Game Preview: Taipans v Kings

Recharged after the FIBA break, the Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans welcome the Sydney Kings to Far North Queensland for Heritage Round.

The Kings will roll out former Taipans Bul Kuol and Cameron Oliver for their first games at their old stomping grounds as both sides look to return from the break with a win.

Last facing Sydney missing the key pieces of Taran Armstrong and Tanner Groves, Cairns will now face the Kings without Kyrin Galloway who has joined Pedro Bradshaw on the sidelines.

Where and When

Friday, 29 November at the Cairns Convention Centre (6:30pm AEST)

How to Follow

Watch: Live on ESPN

Live Updates: Taipans X

Stats: Box Score

What’s Already Happened

Their Last Battle: Cairns Taipans (73) v Sydney Kings (99) in Round 4

Hitting the court for the first time since the 16^th, the fixture marks the end of the FIBA window and the final break until the end of the season, with both sides eyeing up building a run towards the finals.

After suffering multiple injuries earlier in the year, the Taipans have taken the break as an opportunity to lock in on their processes, with the goal being to build back to the same level that earnt them a streak of wins earlier in the season.

Leading the charge with be point guard Taran Armstrong, who initially struggled in his return game against the Phoenix but bounced back against the Breakers to put up seven assists across 29 minutes on court, with five points and five rebounds.

Facing his former team for the first time in Cairns, Jackson Makoi will take to the court looking to build on his performances across past rounds, with the guard putting up 35 points, 21 rebounds and 23 assists across his last five appearances.

Last putting up a 22 point and 19 rebound performance at the Convention Centre during the 2019-20 semi-finals, Cameron Oliver will walk onto his former home court for the first time in a purple jersey. 

Since arriving in Sydney, the American has shown glimpses of his form during his time as a Taipan but has struggled to string together performances due to inconsistent minutes.

For the first time since joining the Kings, Bul Kuol will also face the club he spent three seasons with – however he has also struggled to match his performances from his time in Cairns, despite starting every game this year.

With one of the deepest lineups in the lead, Brian Goorjian has frequently rotated through his bench and relied on them to give his starters a rest with a league leading eleven players averaging over 10 minutes per game.

This depth has contributed to the Kings also leading the league in bench points, with his backup unit averaging 37.2 points per game – Melbourne United the next closest at 30.8 per game – which makes up 43% of their scoring.

Player to Watch

Returning to the court with a 33-point performance against the Breakers, Rob Edwards has only grown his scoring game since arriving in Australia. The American has been a sharpshooter from range this season – shooting at a higher clip from behind the arc than inside it – and hasn’t scored less than 16 points at the Convention Centre this season.

The guard enters Round 10 averaging 3.4 hits from deep per game – the highest in the league – and will face a Sydney lineup which has shared the shooting between their guards, with no player averaging more than two makes per game. However, this allows the Kings to feed whoever is hot, with three different guards hitting six shots from deep in a game – a stat no other team has matched.

What’s Been Said

Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde:

"We were obviously able to rest some bodies – some guys who were high in minutes, nagging injuries, return to play timelines, and some guys away with the FIBA commitments - so it was good to be able to stagger a little bit and get guys a little bit more recentered.

"It was really good to sort of reset everything, and then this week has been great. Even now – today was the highest day we have out of the week knowing that we wil taper off a little bit tomorrow preparing for Sydney – but there was great energy amoungst the group. They were competitive, and I think guys are just ready to play and remember what it's like to win again.

"It's just important that guys are available, foul disciplined and playing smart, and then we'll get to rebound."

Taipans guard Jonah Antonio:

"We've got a healthy roster right now so there's really no excuses for poor performances, and we feel confident with the group when we have the group together. There's a good vibe around practice and we're feeling good.

"I've had a bit of a down year shooting wise, but defensively I think I've taken a step up from previous years and I've kind of just bought into the role.

"The focus is just pressure – like pressuring the ball and being physical – and I'm getting the assignments from Fordey so it's like 'That's my job to do that', and I'm just trying to do that and we're trying to win, so I'm just giving maximum effort on defence."

The Lineups

Taipans

PG – Taran Armstrong / Jackson Makoi / Kyle Adnam

SG – Rob Edwards / Jonah Antonio / Deshon Taylor

SF – AK Gak / Alex Higgins-Titsha

PF – Sam Waardenburg / Kody Stattmann

C –  Tanner Groves / Dillon Stith

Kings

PG – Jaylen Adams / Shaun Bruce

SG – Izayah Le'Afa / Tyler Robertson / Makuach Maluach

SF – Bul Kuol / Alex Toohey

PF – Xavier Cooks / Kouat Noi

C – Cam Oliver / Keli Leaupepe / Jason Spurgin

Ins and Outs 

Taipans

Ins – Alex Higgins-Titsha, Kody Stattmann

Outs – Kyrin Galloway (ankle), Pedro Bradshaw (ankle)

Kings

Ins – Jason Spurgin

Outs – Jaylin Galloway (shoulder)