Round 11: Taipans v JackJumpers

CQUNIVERSITY CAIRNS TAIPANS V TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS
(Mystate Bank Arena, 4:30pm)
Watch live on ESPN via Kayo Sports or Foxtel
Watch together at the Reef Hotel Casino (official away game venue)

LAST MEETING

The Taipans started their 2022-23 season in Hobart back in early October and posted their highest score of the season (106) which remains the most any team has ever scored against the JackJumpers and the 22-point margin is still the biggest ever win by a visiting team over Tasmania at MyState Bank Arena. In their first game, Taipans shot a season best 53% from the field which featured 33 points in the second quarter and then 39 in the third – still the highest scoring quarter by any team this season.

LINE-UP

The Taipans will be without Sam Waardenburg for the remainder of Round 11 due to concussion protocols, after sustaining a head injury against the Brisbane Bullets on Wednesday. Development player Josh Davey will suit up as his replacement. 

LOOK FOR

A close one. The Taipans' last six games on the road have all been decided by single figures and their only two losses away from home were inside the final few seconds of the match (at Sydney and at Adelaide). These two teams also take the most three-point shots in the NBL with Cairns first at 32.6 per game, and Tasmania second at 31.3 per game.

Keep an eye on the match-up between big men Keanu Pinder and Will Magnay as they go head-to-head for the first time in a long time. Magnay only recently returned to the JackJumpers line-up after a knee injury in February that sidelined him for almost 300 days as Pinder's reigning Most Improved Player form has continued, elevating him into the MVP debate. 

LATEST WORDS

"I want to be further down the track than where we are. The good thing is, we’ve got a good string of games coming up that is going to help us build a bit of momentum. I’m also conscious of the fact we’ve got nine wins. And I don’t want to be beating on the guys in a sense of negative energy. So I’m going to take a day to process it, and we’ll do our review before we fly out to Tassie. But it’s a great prospect to know that there is this area of improvement which we have to achieve – right now, we’re a work-in-progress that’s sitting third on the ladder. And that’s pretty cool," - Adam Forde

"Everything’s going to be the same. We’ve got to recover, and then concentrate on us. We need to fix the areas that we need to fix. There’s a lot of trust amongst this group, especially leading into this stretch of games so we’ll just keep pushing forward," - Ben Ayre

Next Home Game: Tuesday 20 December, 6:30pm vs Perth Wildcats. GET TICKETS