Game Preview: Taipans v 36ers

As the calendar enters October, the Taipans will host a series of high calibre rosters in the Far North across the month, with their first being the retooled 36ers.

After returning to the roster in Sydney, Mawot Mag is poised to make his debut in front of the Orange Army on the night, with Lachlan Barker remaining in the lineup for Sam Waardenburg.

Where and When

Thursday, 2 October at the Cairns Convention Centre (7:30pm AEST)

How to Follow

Watch: Live on ESPN

Live Updates: Taipans X

Stats: Box Score

What’s Already Happened

Round 2 Results

Cairns Taipans (83) v Brisbane Bullets (82)
Sydney Kings (74) v Cairns Taipans (77)
Adelaide 36ers (87) v Brisbane Bullets (80)

Providing strong performances both at home and on the road, the Taipans have jumped up to fourth on the ladder after Round 2 with narrow wins over Brisbane and Sydney.

Restricting their opponents to a total of six triples from 47 attempts combined across the two games, Cairns currently lead the league for least allowed three pointers, with Adelaide closely following them in second after their single game.

Not only restricting their outside shooting, the Taipans ended their weekend ranked second during Round 2 for points allowed per 100 possessions, with Brisbane and Sydney having a combined effective field goal percentage of 40% against Cairns – the lowest opponent's shooting percentage across the league during the round.

After putting up 19- and 24-points across the weekend, Jack McVeigh is also shooting up the league's leaderboards, with the forward showing why he is such a crucial piece for the side. Currently ranked as the fourth highest scorer for players who have appearance in multiple games, the Boomer is also averaging seven rebounds and 5.3 assists on top of his 20.3 points per game.

BIG BUCKET FROM JACK 🗡️

📲 @cairnstaipans | 🔴 @espn pic.twitter.com/paCHC9mfkx

— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) September 28, 2025

As Adelaide hit the road for the first time this season, they'll be looking to roll out star recruit Bryce Cotton with the guard arriving in a venue that he regularly performs well in.

Coming off the back of a 39 point and six assist performance against Brisbane, the new Australian citizen returns to the scene of his 44 point night for Perth last season, and currently averages 24.6 points in Cairns where he has reached double digits in every appearance.

Also returning to Cairns after a strong performance last season is Dejan Vasiljevic, who dominated their Round 17 clash with 32 points and 10 made triples.

However, his club has struggled since 2019 at the Cairns Convention Centre, with the Taipans winning six of their last eight matchups with the 36ers, and Adelaide losing all of their last four games in the Far North following a home win.

Player to Watch

Suiting up for his third game since touching down in Cairns only eight days ago, Andrew Andrews will be looking to expand his already impressive performances given his short time in Australia.

Already averaging 12 points and 5.5 assists, and shooting from the field at 54.5% against the Kings despite having only one practice with his team-mates under his belt, Andrews will enter Thursday's fixture with an additional two sessions on the training court, with his connection the the lineup only continuing to develop.

Also making the trip Pacific Ocean since Round 1, Nick Rakocevic is facing a similar challenge after signing with the 36ers last Friday, and only touched down in Brisbane just over 24 hours before tip-off. The forward joins the roster one game into the season after last playing in Puerto Rico alongside Jonah Bolden where Rakocevic averaged nine points, eight rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

Whilst the American-Serbian is making a similar journey to Andrews, the forward hasn't played a game over the last three months whilst the Taipan touched down in Cairns fresh from his AmeriCup campaign with the United States. Rakocevic will likely also be on very limited minutes given that he has half the time to prepare for the fixture when compared to Andrews.

Andrews from DEEP 🎯

Andrew drains his second triple of the night!

📲 @cairnstaipans | 🔴 @espn pic.twitter.com/S0gKRiJYGq

— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) September 26, 2025

What’s Been Said

Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde:

"This will be our third game in seven days, so the big part of this is managing some bodies. We're in a good state in terms of physically, but we'll use today as there are some high minute guys that we want to manage, and there's some low minute guys we need to top up.

"Any early road win is massive. We did a good job of defending the ball, and we did a great job of protecting the three, but there's a few that we let go. But for the majority, I think we had about 83% in terms of what we contested.

"The weekend has helped install the confidence that we’re on the right path. Any time that you can get early road wins especially, it helps set the table of what you want your weeks to look like. But the big mindset now with this group is that we’ve done our review and we’ve closed that chapter very quickly, and now we’ve moved on to a very tough Adelaide that we host in two days."

Taipans guard Reyne Smith:

"It's my first year in pro mens basketball, so they're definitely a lot stronger bodies that I'm getting used to, but I'm settling in well.

"Andrew was here for pretty much one practice and then straight into a double header. So there's still a lot to figure out, but just talking to him on the sidelines and on the court, he's a super smart player. He's been playing around the world for a long time, so he really knows what he's doing and is helping me as much as he can.

"The proposal for me coming in was to be an aggressive scorer and doing what I do really well. I'm still getting comfortable in that role and doing that, but it's definitely exciting to play for someone that allows you to be aggressive like that."

Taipans forward Admiral Schofield:

"I think that we're as locked in more than ever, but it's always great to get two games in the weekend. I think the first game really motivated us to raise our level and lock in to what Fordey has been preaching all pre-season.

"But I think having a hard week and Fordey really being more intense in practice really motivated us to come out and really show why this roster was invested in and really show the talent that we have in this organisation.

"All I've heard is how much the community supports the Taipans and to see every seat filled and everyone loud and really into the game really made me feel like I'm back in the States of back and Tennessee, just by the support and energy that was in the arena."

The Lineups

Taipans

PG – Andrew Andrews / Kyle Adnam / Lachlan Barker

SG – Reyne Smith / Kody Stattmann / Lloyd McVeigh

SF – Admiral Schofield / Alex Higgins-Titsha

PF – Jack McVeigh / Mawot Mag

C – Marcus Lee / Kyrin Galloway / Jed Richardson

36ers

PG – Bryce Cotton / Isaac White / Keanu Rasmussen

SG – DJ Vasiljevic / Michael Harris

SF – Flynn Cameron / Matt Kenyon

PF – Zylan Cheatham / Nick Rakocevic

C – Isaac Humphries / Blake Jones

Ins and Outs

Taipans

Ins – Lachlan Barker, Lloyd McVeigh, Jed Richardson

Outs – Sam Waardenburg (ankle)

36ers

Ins – Nick Rakocevic, Blake Jones

Outs – Ben Griscti (neck)