Taipans set to strike

If there’s one general consensus opinion surrounding the Cairns Taipans ahead of NBL24, it’s they’re going to be fun to watch.

While star duo Keanu Pinder and DJ Hogg have moved to pastures new within the NBL, and import guard Shannon Scott has jumped over to Cairns’ Queensland rivals, Brisbane, Adam Forde has reloaded his talent factory with one of the most exciting young teams ever assembled in NBL history.

Taran Armstrong, Sam Mennenga and import Josh Roberts will all play their first professional season post-college in NBL24, while young guns Lat Mayen, Akoldah Gak and Bul Kuol will continue their development.

Add in the veteran presence of import pair Tahjere McCall and Patrick Miller, and the bulldog-like efforts of Sam Waardenburg, and you have an exciting side.

The signing of Armstrong earlier this off-season has been labelled as something of a coup for the Taipans, and there’s a general expectation that the young guard will be starting at the point guard position come Round 1, but former South East Melbourne head coach Simon Mitchell has warned fans not to discount Miller.

“I think he’ll be the day one point guard,” Mitchell said of Armstrong on The Marketplace Round Table. “Having said that Patrick Miller is an absolute bulldog. He is going to give him no remorse at practice, there are going to be some clashes there.

“We looked at him really closely a couple of times back in Melbourne United days and we had a pretty good look at him maybe two years ago at South East. The knock we had on him at South East was he didn’t shoot the three-ball particularly well, he very much liked to shoot it off the dribble in a long two situation which wasn’t the sexiest thing a coach likes.

“Having said that, he’s actually become a little bit more efficient from the arc in the last two seasons. I’m looking forward to seeing him pinging it from downtown because if he was the player he was two years ... if you had him and Tahjere McCall in the backcourt maybe you’re thinking this isn’t the shooting you need to compete at the NBL level, but he’s improved on that.”

“There are position battles left and right when you look at this depth chart. Who wants to go first? Who wants to win themselves a starting lineup spot? Taran Armstrong and Pat Miller at the point guard spot, those battles on a daily basis are going to be fun,” NBL analyst Liam Santamaria added.

“Bobi Klintman is, I think, over the course of this season going to say ‘listen, I’d like to play in that starting group. Maybe I’m on the floor with Sam Waardenburg and we go super big’.

“They’ve got a lot of fun pieces. They’re going to be young, athletic, long, fast, and very fun to watch.”

While Adam Forde proved last season he is capable of building a side that can surpass all expectations, NBL great Andrew Gaze remains less than convinced the Taipans can, once again, be one of the Cinderella stories in the competition.

“On paper you look at this, and this is not going to be in your top four or five teams you’re going to pick,” Gaze said.

“Last season Sam Waardenburg was one of my favorite players, he was outstanding. You know when you see a guy and say, ‘I’d love to have him on my team’. If he continues to improve on what he did last season, a bit more responsibility with the energy and grunt he brings, then it comes down to what you can get out of some of these guys.

“Jonah Antonio, can he come in and be that microwave off the bench. Lat Mayen got good upside but needs to go to another level.

“Whether or not Fordey can get that with the system he puts in place is going to be the question.”

“Pinder, we saw they could play without him with Waardenburg shifting to the five sometimes,” Mitchell added.

“But DJ Hogg is going to be a very big loss for this team.”

Cairns will open its NBL24 campaign on Saturday, September 30 against the New Zealand Breakers.