Forde Finds Positives Despite Defeat

Cairns coach Adam Forde says he’s happy to take the positives out of his side’s Monday night loss to the Perth Wildcats.

After a late Jonah Antonio three saw the Taipans head into quarter time with a one-point lead, Cairns capitulated under the shooting performances of Bryce Cotton and Todd Blanchfield in the second term. The Wildcats rebounded to lead by 23 points at half time en route to the 29-point victory.

“A loss is only a loss if you don’t learn from it, and I think there’s a lot to take away from this game,” Forde said post-match.

“This is part of the learning curve for this group. There were things that really rattled our cage … it’s really important for the guys that we evolve from this and learn from this.

“We’ve got a group that’s still learning to play with each other, and they’ve got to develop that trust and bond still. That’s not going to happen overnight.

“It’s important we don’t take this loss and feel this is going to be the barometer of where we’re at. We have to take the positives, we have to learn from this."

The Taipans began their NBL23 campaign with two games on the road and headed back to their home court with two wins under their belts.

After starting the season with an exciting 22-point win in Tasmania, they overcame the Phoenix in Melbourne by nine-points in an absolute thriller on Saturday.

Last night’s loss was Cairns’ first home game of the season, and Forde says he’s disappointed the struggling performance came in front of the home fans.

“We’re still trying to win back the trust of the community,” Forde said. “They’ve had two years of really bad results and it’s important we put a product on the floor they can get behind.

“It’s unfortunate tonight was the result it was … there was going to be a game like this, it’s just disappointing it was at home.

“We have to take the loss for what it was, it was a whooping … [we’ll] build from this, learn from this and even if we improve slightly, we’re still trending in the direction we want to go in.”

The Taipans hit the road again in round three to take on the defending champion Sydney Kings on Friday, October 14.