Adam Forde speaks after Taipans defeated by Adelaide 36ers

At 2-2 on the season, Cairns has well and truly kept itself in the hunt in the early going, but the manner in which their two losses have come has to be a source of concern.

Despite the even win-loss record, the Snakes have the worst point differential (-64) in the entire league, a full 12 points below the 0-3 New Zealand Breakers.

A fired up Adam Forde ripped into his group in the media after their disastrous season opener against South East Melbourne, reminding his group that people lose their jobs for poor performance.

The coach was more judicious with his vocabulary after their most recent defeat at the hands of the Bryce Cotton-led Adelaide 36ers, emphasising the toll that a punishing early fixture had taken on his group.

“You don’t want to make excuses, but three games in a short span of time takes its toll,” he said.

“We played more games in this span than some teams have played all season.”

But Forde didn’t shy away from the fact that his star player in Jack McVeigh put up a disappointing performance, a rare misstep in what has otherwise been a strong start from the Taipans’ big recruit.

“I think we can say for Jack this is a bad game, we probably tried to force it one too many times,” he said.

“We’ll sit with Jack and review that, I think we could’ve done a better job of giving him some passing options when he was in that kill zone.”

Cotton masterclass dispatches Snakes

Taipans recruit Admiral Schofield admitted earlier in the week that while he was aware of Bryce Cotton, he wasn’t super familiar with the NBL legend’s body of work.

Well if he wasn’t 24 hours ago, ‘Scho’ certainly will be now, as a vintage Cotton performance lifted the Adelaide 36ers to a comprehensive victory in Cairns.

The visitors led wire-to-wire, eventually coming away with a 110-79 victory.

Cotton was as devastating as ever, though his dominance was aided by scoring contributions from Flynn Cameron and Isaac Humphries.

Those efforts allowed Cotton to pick his spots.

He had several stretches where he deferred to his teammates, only to explode for several quick baskets to keep the Taipans at bay.

Cotton finished with 28 points on the night, having spent the majority of the fourth quarter resting on the bench.

“He’s so dynamic as a scorer and it’s such a new group, we’re still trying to figure some things out,” 36ers coach Mike Wells said after the game.

“There was one moment when Isaac Humphries is trying to do the right thing and Bryce is saying ‘no, no go away’, he wants that space at certain times.

“That’s just part of us getting used to playing with each other and playing with Bryce Cotton and what he does.”

It’s the sort of performance that Cairns fans have come to expect whenever Cotton is in town, as he dropped 44 on his last visit when he was a Wildcat.

It’s far from panic stations for Adam Forde’s side with their record sitting at 2-2.

However, this was their second blowout loss of the season, with questions surely starting to be asked about if and when the Snakes will be able to match it with the best in the NBL.

Forde seemed less concerned about this defeat than the last one, saying he thought there were some external factors - most notably the fatigue of a packed schedule - influencing the team’s performance.

“I think the response after the first week was warranted, but I think this one there were some outside influences,” he said.

“It’s been a long week, we’ve played more games in this week than a lot of teams have played all season.

“We’ll give these guys the next couple of days because we’ve got eight days until Perth which is great, and we need (the rest).”

Foul trouble hurts Snakes

In a rough first half for the Taipans, they committed 11 personal fouls, with Marcus Lee in particular drawing plenty of unwanted attention from the officials.

Untimely indiscretions in both the first and second quarter forced Forde to take the NBL Champion out of the game on both occasions.

Tensions rose in both terms, with point guard Andrew Andrews picking up a technical in the first, while a chorus of boos from the Cairns crowd rang out after Kyrin Galloway’s second foul.

Lee did manage to clean up his defensive work in the second half, after he fouled out in the Taipans’ one-point win over Brisbane last Friday.

“With (Sam) Waardenburg out for this stretch, we’re reliant on Marcus being available,” Forde said.

“It’s something we’ll continue to work with him on.

“When Marcus sort of anchors the defence he can be left in a tricky spot sometimes and so we’ve got to do a better job of supporting him.”

It’s sure to be an area the Taipans want to address, especially as Lee proved dangerous on offense, particularly in the pick and roll with Andrew Andrews.

McVeigh’s quiet night

Jack McVeigh has lived up to the hype for the most part since signing in FNQ, but this game was a rare misstep.

The Snakes superstar was mostly held in check throughout, with Forde also reducing his workload in what was their third game in six days.

“I think Jack was playing tired today,” Forde said.

‘It’s not an excuse but he’s played around 100 minutes this week. Once the game started to get a bit of slippage we wanted to give him some shorter stinits.“

The coach had flagged earlier in the week that load management would be a factor in their preparations, and it looks like McVeigh will welcome the eight-day break.

Preview

The Cairns Taipans are faced with a tall task this weekend when they host the Adelaide 36ers, in what will be the side’s third game in six days.

The Snakes will be hoping the short turnaround will be offset by the momentum they’ve built with close wins over both Brisbane and Sydney.

Coach Adam Forde said they’re well aware of the challenge that taking on a team which boasts five-time NBL MVP Bryce Cotton presents.

“The synergy between Zylan (Cheatham) and Bryce is really evident already,” he said.

“That first game they played against Brisbane they were working really well off each other.

“And with the gravity that Bryce has, that generates points for the other guys on the court.

“That pairing the first hurdle to navigate, and then they’ve got a lot of weapons off-ball that we have to worry about.”

Taipans recruit Admiral Schofield said he’s “really excited” about the prospect of taking on a 36ers side which he said he has heard “a lot about.”

“I’m not too familiar with (Bryce’s) body of work, but I’ve heard a lot about his accolades and what he’s achieved and I have a lot of respect for him,’ Schofield said.

“I think it will be a good game, I know the crowd will be into it, and we’ll be ready to play.”

The Taipans take on the 36ers at 7.30pm on Thursday at Cairns Convention Centre.

The unsung recruit making noise in FNQ

The Taipans’ off-season signings have dominated the storylines before and during the Snakes up and down start to the NBL26 season.

While superstar recruit Jack McVeigh has rightfully owned the headlines, his Boomers teammate is quietly putting together a strong start to the season.

Reyne Smith signed with the Taipans following a four-year stint playing college basketball for Charleston and then the storied Louisville Cardinals.

And after a rough introduction to professional basketball, in which the Taipans were handed a 37-point defeat by SEM Phoenix, Smith is well and truly finding his feet.

After scoring 19 points in that season opener, the 22-year-old played a pivotal role in the side’s two wins in three days against Brisbane and then Sydney.

He spoke highly of the experience of playing his first home game in orange.

“It was awesome (playing in front of a home crowd), it definitely gets loud in there which is great,” Smith said on Tuesday.

“Whenever we made a run you could really hear that crowd get involved.”

Smith’s youth hasn’t stopped coach Adam Forde from giving him a license to be aggressive early in games in looking for his own shot, a situation which Smith said he thrives in.

“Coming in to this team, I was always planning to be aggressive in looking to score and do what I do well,” he said.

“It’s exciting to play for someone who allows me to play that way.”

While getting acclimated to a new team with a host of new players is always a challenge, Smith was able to get a head-start playing alongside McVeigh in Australia’s successful FIBA Asia Cup campaign.

“It’s been great sharing a court with him, but also the off-court stuff as well,” he said.

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“I’m learning the world of pro basketball, and having spent some time with him at the Asia Cup, we’ve developed a really good relationship.

“It’s fun seeing him hit those big shots. I was used to seeing him do that stuff on the TV and now I get to be a part of it, I’m glad to be on the right side of it.”

The Taipans welcome a much-hyped and well-rested Adelaide outfit to Cairns Convention Centre on Thursday. Tip off is at 7.300pm.

Originally published as Adam Forde speaks after Taipans defeated by Adelaide 36ers