Game Preview: Taipans v Wildcats

After taking down both of last season’s grand finalists, the Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans are now turning their attention to the Perth Wildcats. The travelling Cats will be looking to turn their form around after going 1-3 to start the season, but will line up against the hot firing Snakes on their home court.

Entering their second double header of the season, the Taipans will be without Taran Armstrong and Tanner Groves who have both been sidelined for the upcoming rounds. Tad Dufelmeier will re-enter the lineup, alongside development players Alex Higgins-Titsha and Kody Stattmann.

Where and When

Thursday, October 10 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

Round 3 Results

Cairns Taipans (90) v Tasmania JackJumpers (78)

Cairns Taipans (101) v Melbourne United (88)

Perth Wildcats (68) v Melbourne United (97)

Perth Wildcats (79) v Tasmania JackJumpers (84)

Traveling up to Far North Queensland, the Wildcats will be entering Round 4 after two tough losses. Facing the same two opponents as the Taipans across the weekend, Perth first took their biggest ever loss at RAC Arena against United before also falling to the JackJumpers.

Gearing up to recover from their overtime loss, the Wildcats have flown directly into Cairns but will be without key players – including two starters. Former Taipan Keanu Pinder is sitting out due to concussion protocols, alongside Dylan Windler and Tai Webster – with Achillies and calf injuries respectively.

Also flying into Cairns are the Taipans, who closed off their explosive weekend with a win against United in Melbourne, and who will be looking to bring the Cairns Convention Centre to life once more.

Taking down United by 13 points, the Taipans shot the lights out – hitting 11 of 19 threes in the first half. As they line up for Round 3, they have four players with a true shooting percentage over 65% – Edwards, Galloway, Groves and Waardenburg – and lead the league in made three-point shots.

The high-scoring Snakes are finding success with this method, having won all their last seven games when scoring 90+ points. With three of those wins coming this season, they are hopeful to continue this streak with the Wildcats currently conceding 91.8 points per game. Coming off a triple-digit scoring performance, they’re now on their equal-longest 90+ streak since 2019-20.

Despite taking down both of last season’s grand finalists, the Taipans now need to keep their eyes locked on their upcoming games. They face a difficult run to close out October, and after facing the Wildcats they’ll battle every top six team except for New Zealand to close out the month.

Continuing their domination on the glass with also be of focus for the Snakes, after winning the rebounding contest against United – 41-24 before the final quarter. This is a major step up from last season when they ranked ninth in the league, however they’ll now face the second-best rebounding team in the league – who are without Pinder who has averaged 7.5 rebounds this season.

Player to Watch

Entering Round 4 as the league’s second highest scorer, Rob Edwards will be looking to rise to the top spot against the Cats. The prolific shot maker has made himself felt across the league after being widely overlooked during the offseason – putting up 31 points in his first outing on his home court, followed by another 23 points on Sunday.

Lining up opposite four-time NBL MVP Bryce Cotton, it is set to be a scoring masterclass at the Convention Centre as the pair duel. Edwards will enter the matchup needing a 23-point performance to lead in the league in scoring, whilst Cotton needs 35 points to beat him to it.

What’s Been Said

Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde:

“The boys are really process driven, and I think they’re starting to see it now. For example, today when we’re going through the Perth scout and in the film session, the guys are sort of speaking up and it’s constructive – it’s not just fluff. So that’s cool to see.

“Perth are always dangerous, and they have a great track record against us. Bryce has already come out and said that he enjoys a hot gym, so he tends to have a good performance, and it’s really important that we don’t want to underestimate anybody.”

Wildcats Head Coach John Rillie:

“We gave great effort tonight – we need to repeat that. But Cairns, they’re travelling very well right now – good road win for them today, and they had a great home win the other night against Tassie, so they’re going to be juiced.

“As far as the way we played – I’m very proud and happy with the way we competed tonight. There was a different looking team to what showed up on Friday night, so we need to find that level of consistency and the result will start taking care of itself.”

The Lineups

Taipans

PG – Kyle Adnam / Tad Dufelmeier / Jackson Makoi

SG – Rob Edwards / Jonah Antonio / Kody Stattmann

SF – Pedro Bradshaw / Alex Higgins-Titsha

PF – Sam Waardenburg / Akoldah Gak

C – Kyrin Galloway / Dillon Stith

Wildcats

PG – Elijah Pepper / Dontae Russo-Nance

SG – Bryce Cotton / Ben Henshall / Michael Harris

SF – Todd Withers / Hyrum Harris

PF – Kristian Doolittle / David Okwera

C – Izan Almansa / Jesse Wagstaff

Ins and Outs 

Taipans

Ins – Tad Dufelmeier, Alex Higgins-Titsha, Kody Stattmann

Outs – Taran Armstrong (ankle), Tanner Groves (calf)

Wildcats

Ins – Dylan Winder, Tai Webster, Dontae Russo-Nance

Outs – Keanu Pinder (concussion)