The Secret to Snakes' Success

In whatever you do in life, it can take time to find yourself. Time to know what works for you, what doesn’t and what you need to do to get the most out of yourself. When you do start to figure those things out, success often follows.

That is what we’re seeing now from Adam Forde and his Cairns Taipans. Forde, now in his second season at the helm of the Snakes and his third as an NBL head coach, has his team looking very sharp. They’re sitting third on the NBL Ladder at 6-3 and have a 5-1 road record.

This is on the back of an injury-riddled NBL22 campaign that saw the Snakes win just nine games and finish in ninth place. It’s on the back of many people tipping them to miss the playoffs this season and likely finish in the bottom two or three again.

But this is also on the back of an off-season where Forde got to really put his imprints on his roster for the first time in his career. He didn’t just inherit an existing roster and try to find a style to suit that group. He had a vision in mind and went out and got the missing pieces he needed to make that vision a reality.

And that vision was a product of what he learned in his two years as a head coach and many more years in the league as an assistant coach, working under the likes of Rob Beveridge, Trevor Gleeson and Will Weaver.

“I guess I’ve always had a style of play in mind,” Forde told NBL Media. 

“I’ve had a really good apprenticeship. Every coach I’ve worked with has said ‘you’ve got to be you’. You’ve got to be genuine in the sense of what your message is and what your style of play is. Don’t try to be something that you’re not. 

“And I guess I’ve built my identity as a coach with this particular style of play that I knew going in – obviously I’m still trying to define it and fine tune some areas.

“One of the theories I have is where basketball players peak at 27, and that’s not just me saying it, P3 [Sport Science] did a study. I don’t have anyone on my roster over 30. And this is part of that style of play. We want to get up and play multiple positions, so we recruit length and guys who can play defence. 

“But this is my first year of actually implementing it. This is the first time of being able to put theory into practice, which is really cool.”

Forde has definitely subscribed to that theory. Before NBL22, he brought in Keanu Pinder who was 26, Tahjere McCall who was also 26 and Bul Kuol at 25. This past off-season, the Taipans signed Sam Waardenburg who’s 23, Lat Mayen and Jonah Antonio at 25, plus Ben Ayre and DJ Hogg, who are 26. 

And most of those guys fit that mould of being young, athletic and able to impact a game on both ends of the floor.

“I’m biased for athleticism,” acknowledged Forde. 

“We wanted length and athleticism and speed and [to] have guys play multiple positions. That was important with the guys we wanted to recruit.”

It’s certainly worked for the Taipans to this point in the season. Despite what Liam Santamaria ranked as the hardest schedule to start the season, they started the season strong and have been particularly good on the road. 

They’ve already beaten three of last year’s finalists including both teams that made the Grand Final, in Tasmania and eventual champions Sydney, as well as defeating Melbourne United twice. Cairns has also taken care of South East Melbourne and Brisbane.

Per RealGM.com, they rank second in points, first in made threes, equal first in assists, first in steals and blocks, as well as third in defensive rating. They have the third highest pace in the league and rank fourth in points allowed per game.

Hogg ranks first in steals, second in blocks and fifth in scoring, Pinder leads the league in rebounds and Shannon Scott is third in assists.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CairnsTaipans</a> have been the 3rd and final team that’s impressed me in the first 6 Rounds of NBL23. Coach of the Year Candidate Adam Forde has his underdogs BALLIN! <br><br>Don’t think for a min it’s an easy W, because they’re far from that. ? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Nbl23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Nbl23</a> <a href="https://t.co/je0KfOH6o2">pic.twitter.com/je0KfOH6o2</a></p>&mdash; Corey “Homicide” Williams (@chomicide) <a href="https://twitter.com/chomicide/status/1592996181688614913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Forde isn’t too focused on those numbers though as he knew what he had when he put the roster together with his staff and front office. He’s also acutely aware of how others perceived his roster during the pre-season, but tries to keep any opinions, whether in pre-season or now, away from his team.

“This is what was the most surprising thing with all the pre-season previews,” Forde explained. 

“It wasn’t so much that we used it as motivation, it was more in a sense of – especially with the new guys coming in – to say that ‘the reality is that most of these guys don’t know what they’re talking about.’ 

“So, don’t get caught up with ‘the tenth place finish’, that we ‘don’t have top-tier talent’ or the ‘budget imports’ – whatever it may be. 

“We know we have the lowest budget in the league and this is why we’ve done the build the way we have. We know we have to recruit harder and go earlier and dive deeper than some of the other teams that can just pull out the cheque book. So, we had full confidence in where we wanted to be. 

“I didn’t put a number on where we’d be throughout the season. It’s just a case of we need to win the game that was in front of us. The games that we lost, aside from the Perth one, we can pull out 20 times where we messed something up that we can fix, and we learn from it and it won’t happen again. There was potential for us to be 9-1 and there was potential for us to be 2-7. 

“But the reality is, where we’re sitting right now and how everyone else is operating, we’re just focused in again on this weekend which is New Zealand and Sydney. And if we go 2-0, fantastic. If we go 0-2, then we’ve got work [to do].”

One thing that Forde is definitely proud of is the play of his starting centre, Keanu Pinder. Brought in last season after needing a fresh start, Pinder began to transform his game under the tutelage of Forde and his assistant coaches, including Kerry Williams and Sam Gruggen. 

Pinder went on to win the NBL’s Most Improved Player award last season, increasing his production from NBL21 in Adelaide at 4.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 17 minutes, to 10.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 22 minutes in NBL22.

He spent the off-season with the Boomers both in FIBA qualifiers and at the FIBA Asia Cup.

This season, Pinder has emerged into an All-NBL calibre player, averaging 18 points, 9.8 boards and 2.8 assists in 29 minutes per game.

Forde acknowledged that Pinder’s development is very satisfying to see.

“Definitely,” he said. 

“When we sat with Keanu at the start, we asked him to trust us in a lot of areas. We asked him to trust that the things I want to try and restrict and pull the reins on a little bit, trust me that I’m doing this for the right reasons. And I want to expand in some other areas. 

“There’s some players that I’ve done that before in the past who’ve been very unresponsive. But Keanu trusts us. 

“There’s been a few little things along the way where we go, ‘Hey man, you need to be better here.’ And we’re talking about gym etiquette, we’re talking about weight room, we’re talking about recovery; whatever it may be and he responds to it.

“The people around him too. His Mum Tracey, I remember when we first played Perth in Perth last season and she was at the airport and basically gave the green light to say, ‘don’t go easy on him’. So, he’s got the right people around him and telling him the right things and trusting us to basically take over his career with his best interests at heart. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">That big-man connection ?<br><br>Sam Waardenburg throws it DOWN after the quick pass from Keanu Pinder ? <a href="https://t.co/YSuqd1QGtL">pic.twitter.com/YSuqd1QGtL</a></p>&mdash; Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1593895575207825408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“And Kez, Gruggs, Will [Lopez] – my assistant coaches – work with him every day and we’ve got the team in the gym that do that side of it. And all I do is draw up some stuff and put him in some areas where I know he can blossom and basically just give him the freedom to make some mistakes, to learn from them and it’s been great. 

“And so, his success is our success because it becomes a great recruiting tool. Is there another NBL player right now that feels undervalued or under-appreciated on the bench and wants to come up here and get an opportunity because of the pathway that Keanu and Bul have done?

“And the big thing that I always say is, that may be the case but how open are you to really being coached the way Keanu was open to because, Keanu has given up a lot. And yeah, he’s getting the rewards now, but eighteen months ago, he wasn’t getting those rewards. 

“It’s a collective effort of everybody, including Keanu himself.”

It will take a collective effort on the floor on Friday night against the Breakers. It’s a big game for Cairns – every game is big in NBL23 – but this game is a chance for the Snakes to beat a team ahead of them on the ladder and move into the top two. 

They lost to the Breakers only a month ago at home and re-establishing the Cairns Convention Centre as a fortress is important with five of their next seven games there.

But does playing a team ahead of them in the standings mean they approach the game any differently?

“No,” Forde said. 

“And again, this is probably just because of how tight the league is. We’ve seen it multiple times, games that should have been won or lost and vice versa. 

“This is massive. We laid an egg last time we played them. Defensively we were great, but we only generated 64 points which is our worst offensive output by far this season. 

“The cool thing about it from a coaching perspective is, this is a good indicator right now at this stage of the season, especially when we’ve got the two teams ahead of us within four days. It’s a good check. 

“Are we legitimate? Are we close? If we get whupped, it’s humbling and we need to re-assess. If we lose both these games, it’s a bit of a reality check and if we do well, how do we navigate the pressure of being that top-tier team, because we’ve flown under the radar and now we have the opportunity to beat two teams ahead of us. 

“A whole other level of competition and pressure comes with that. So, really looking forward to this weekend, but the preparation stays the same. We keep it as consistent as possible.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It&#39;s never to early for a Coach of the Year debate ?<br><br>If you had to cast your vote ????? ???, who are you picking? ? <a href="https://t.co/ivc9PGSPp7">pic.twitter.com/ivc9PGSPp7</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1595255866982559744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It is a great barometer for just how far Forde has brought this team along from last season, but more than that, how far they can go this season.

And while the pre-season predictions had them struggling again, Forde, now a legitimate Coach of the Year candidate, always felt differently about this group.

With the ability to put his paws all over the roster properly for the first time, the advice from his past mentors to be himself, the support of his staff and the faith that his players trust him, Forde had all the ingredients to build a winning culture and a successful team.

And that’s how it’s playing out.

“I’ve always had confidence in the group we brought in and we always said we were a playoff team,” he added. 

“I never really said it out loud and now people start to see it for what it is. But if you start falling in love with the narrative, you’re quickly going to lose four games in a row and if you’re too overly critical, you can start to put unwarranted pressure on the group. 

“But this weekend’s good to give us a bit of an indicator. We can’t go too far ahead down the season. We’ve got to stay focused on the task at hand, but we’re just trying to win games.”