Preview: Cairns Taipans vs Toronto Raptors

A tired CQUniversity Cairns Taipans outfit fell short to the Washington Wizards 145-82 in the NBL's debut in the NBA pre-season tournament. Cairns will now play their fourth game in ten days when they face the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. 

The Raptors played their first game for the pre-season last week, taking the win 112-99 against the Sacramento Kings.

Can the Raptors make it two wins before they start the regular season, or will this Taipans squad be able to showcase their potency on both ends of the floor and return home with the W?

WHEN AND WHERE

Sunday, October 15 at Scotiabank Arena, Toronto (6PM ET)
Australian Time: Monday, October 16 (8AM AEST)

HOW TO FOLLOW

Watch: Live on KAYO Freebies and Taipans socials

AN OVERVIEW

The Taipans play their second game in the NBA pre-season tournament and will have regrouped after going down to the Washington Wizards last Wednesday, however, have some major exclusions from their squad which has led to reinforcements being called in.

They will be without Taran Armstrong due to that foot injury, Tahjere McCall and has remained in the US for the birth of his first child while Sam Mennenga is still ill, however Lachlan Anderson re-joins the squad.

Point guard Elfrid Payton has been called in to the squad for this game, bringing with him experience from five NBA teams, after being drafted as tenth overall pick in the 2014 draft.

Although the Taipans lost their game against the Wizards in Washington, they had five players sinking double digit points (Buol Kuol, Akoldah Gak, Tahjere McCall, Patrick Miller, and Josh Roberts) while Gak and Roberts also worked the glass in the rebound department, taking nine and ten each respectively.

Taran Armstrong fed the ball where it had to go with eight assists, playing for the first time in three weeks, earning even more respect for his ability.

The Raptors head into a new chapter post Nick Nurse, after the head coach of five seasons and the man that led them to a championship in 2019 was released in April, with Darko Rajakovic being signed at the helm as coach after time as assistant coach at Oklahoma City Thunder (2014-2019), Phoenix Suns (2019-2020) and Memphis Grizzlies (2020-2023).

In July, the Raptors made two huge signings for the club in forward Jalen McDaniels joining the club from Philadelphia 76ers and guard Dennis Schroder from the Los Angeles Lakers.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Akoldah Gak

In the game against the Wizards, the forward sank 17 points, but his defensive edge was the shining light. He took nine rebounds to flirt with the double-double, with eight of those being on the defensive end, showing his ability to convert plays to Cairns’ favour.

Before joining the Taipans this year on a two-year deal, the 21-year-old was a development player with the Illawarra Hawks and played with the Chicago Bulls during the 2022 NBA Summer League.

In the three games in the NBL this year, the 210cm big man started from the bench, but due to the absence of Sam Waardenburg due to illness, he was called in to start and he put in a performance that is sure to get him more time in the five in the future.

Dennis Schroder

The 30-year-old guard led Team Germany to go undefeated during the FIBA World Cup this year qualifying for the play-offs for the first time since 2002, when they took bronze.

Germany won the World Cup this year beating Serbia 83-77 in the final, Schroder took 28 points in the game to finish top scorer and was awarded MVP for the tournament.

He signed with the Raptors on July 12, after being drafted in the first round as 17th overall pick in 2013 by the Atlanta Hawks and went on to play for Oklahoma City (2018-2020), Los Angeles Lakers (2020-2021/2022-2023), Boston Celtics (2021-2022), and was traded to the Houston Rockets in 2022 but was ruled out for the season with a shoulder injury.

In his first game out for the Raptors, in that 13-point win against the Sacramento Kings, Schroder took six points, five assists, and five rebounds as a member of the starting five but will be sure to be wanting more against the Taipans.

THE MATCHUP

Gary Trent Jr. v Patrick Miller

Trent Jr. is listed as a small forward, but his shooting ability has earned him a reputation as potent off his hands with his past two seasons with the Raptors averaging 17.4 points per game last year and 18.3 the season before. In their first preseason game against the Kings, he sank 22 points in 21 minutes of play off the bench, 50% clip from deep with three from six three-pointers made along with seven from 12 from the field. He also swung the transition of play in the favour of his side with three individual steals, an area he averaged 1.6 per game last season.

Patrick Miller is a point guard that breaks the mould in terms of appearance and fitness, with one commentator recently saying, ‘he looks and plays with the fitness of a footballer’.

The Lithuanian League top scorer from last year and Europe Cup champion from the year before can ball, in their loss against the Wizards he stuffed the stat sheet with an individual contribution of 15 points, three assists, four rebounds, a steal and a block.

The NBL will be reminded quickly once the Taipans touch down back on Australian shores of what he brings to this Cairns side and the league.

Miller should start against the Raptors, as he has for all games so far, but hopefully fans get the chance to see this match-up at some point during the clash.