Glaring Issue Taipans Must Fix

The Cairns Taipans are facing difficulties on the offensive end of the court and they’re starting to “annoy” and “frustrate” coach Adam Forde.

The Taipans are the best defensive team in the league via defensive rating, however, they are near the bottom in offensive rating, and Forde isn’t happy.

“We’ve got the number one defence in the league right now, we’re not doing that based on points allowed we’re doing that by the actual defensive rating and turnovers generated…yet we’ve got the second worse offence,” Forde said.

“This is really starting to frustrate me, it’s starting to annoy me, it’s nothing to do with the personnel because we’re very capable. It’s trying to get key guys in particular positions and I want to be further down the track then where we are.”

While Wednesday night’s 85-76 win over Brisbane saw Cairns move up to eighth in offensive rating, Forde remains determined his talented roster will pick up on offence in the upcoming festive period of games.

As a result of their win over the Bullets, the Taipans sit third on the ladder heading into Tasmania for a battle with the JackJumpers on Saturday night.

“We’re at the half way point of the season, we’ve got nine wins. If we didn’t blow that game in Adelaide (78-75 loss in round nine), we’re on a four-game winning streak. We’re competing for a top two spot,” Forde said.

“The good thing is we’ve got a string of games coming up that’s going to help us build a bit of momentum.

“It’s a great prospect to know that this area of improvement that we have to achieve, right now we’re a work in progress that’s sitting third on the ladder, and that’s pretty cool.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bul is putting on a SHOW for the home crowd!! ?<br><br>Watch LIVE on ESPN ? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OrangeArmy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OrangeArmy</a> <a href="https://t.co/E1AP9Qpz4m">pic.twitter.com/E1AP9Qpz4m</a></p>&mdash; Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1602971358605955072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Bul Kuol was Cairns’ leading scorer against Brisbane, recording 23 points, despite battling foul trouble during the game.

All eyes will be on the Taipans’ offence on Saturday when they play the fifth placed JackJumpers at 5:30pm AEDT.