Round 10: Taipans v Hawks

CQUniversity Cairns Taipans v Illawarra Hawks
(Cairns Convention Centre, 4:30pm)
Watch live on ESPN – GET TICKETS
Post-Game Function: Reef Hotel Casino

LAST MEETING

The Taipans face their regional counterparts for the first time this year, but these two teams have a long history of fiery clashes. The last game was in Round 12 last season, where Brian Goorjian’s Hawks got the 79-54 home victory.

LINE-UP

After not having an entire squad for a streak of 65 games, Taipan Head Coach Adam Forde is set to enjoy just his second game at the helm of the Cairns with a full roster. The Hawks are also at full strength, after recently adding former Wildcat Michael Frazier II to their roster.

LOOK FOR

The Snakes to crash the glass. The Taipans gave up 17 offensive rebounds in Adelaide last weekend, along with registering their third-lowest score of the season. Meanwhile, Tahjere McCall continues to work his way back from injury and back into the group, with a promising 24 points off the bench in the last game.

LATEST WORDS

“We’re focused on us right now. We’ve got to defend the way we defend. We’ll lock into some things personnel-wise, but otherwise it’s all on us. We’re defending really well, we’ve just got to reward ourselves on the other end. And we need to be prepared that teams are going to go on runs and we’ve got to stay locked in mentally and continue to do what we do,” – Taipans Assistant Coach Kerry Williams

“It’s a tough team - a lot of young guys, a lot of talent, they just haven’t been able to put it together this year. They looked good against Melbourne United, and I think they’ve calculated they can make the six, so they’re going to come out hard. We’ve got to shut them down early,” – Ben Ayre