Taipans suffer tough loss in Melbourne

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans suffered a tough loss in Melbourne, falling 95–60 to United at John Cain Arena in their 800th NBL appearance.

Despite flashes of fight, a high number of turnovers and a tough shooting night proved too steep to overcome against one of the league’s most disciplined outfits.

Taipans centre Marcus Lee made an immediate impact with a thunderous dunk on his former side in the opening minutes, but Melbourne’s pressure soon intensified in a second quarter to forget.

United skipper Chris Goulding marked his return from injury in his first game of the season with 16 points, while big man Jesse Edwards impressed with 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead the hosts.

Following a narrow loss to the Perth Wildcats on Friday night, Taipans Head Coach oach Adam Forde reflected on the team’s performance after a quick turnaround between fixtures.

“It’s a real Jekyll and Hyde case we’re dealing with,” Forde said.

“The numbers are clear that we’re not structured offensively. We’re hit and miss on some key points of emphasis in that regard.”

“We’ve got some hurdles to overcome in the sense of making shots — we’re not shooting the ball very well at all, which has a flow-on effect defensively. There were stretches of the game where we were really good defensively, but the turnovers compound the issue.”

Alex Higgins-Titsha provided the spark on an otherwise difficult evening, finishing with a career-high 16 points off the bench to go with two blocks and a steal.

The energetic forward gave Forde’s side momentum during the second half with his hustle and rim presence, standing tall as Cairns struggled to find rhythm offensively.

Veteran guard Kyle Adnam was injected after half time and steadied the tempo, helping the visitors limit the damage in the final term after United’s pressure defence forced early mistakes. 

“I’ve been on teams that have started worse and finished better,” Adnam said.

“Everything takes time. Melbourne’s been a great pressure team for a really long time and it’s about us getting the details right, finding our spots on the floor and getting back to the basics offensively. 

“We’ve got a lot of talent on the floor and chemistry builds naturally over time. Right now, we’ve just got to get that going as quickly as possible.”

While the result stung, the Taipans will take positives from their bench impact and defensive stretches that showed promise.

The Kenfrost Homes Cairns Taipans now turn their attention to their three-game home stand, with the Adelaide 36ers being the first team to arrive in the Far North to face them. The two sides will face off on Saturday, 18 October from 4:30pm - get your tickets HERE.

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