Why Taipans talent will overcome ‘lack of experience’ in NBL24
Experience will not judge what the Taipans can achieve this summer as Adam Forde seeks to guide the most youthful roster in the league to the NBL post-season for a second straight year.
Experience will not judge what the Cairns Taipans can achieve this summer as Adam Forde seeks to guide the most youthful roster in the league to the NBL post-season for a second straight year.
The Snakes will open their season in New Zealand on Saturday afternoon when they take on the Breakers, but the boys from the tropics have already shown glimpses of what they are capable of during the NBL Blitz at the Gold Coast.
Look no further than Taran Armstrong impressing plenty at the Blitz with his vision and ability to pass in traffic to set up his teammates, or the way experienced point guard Patrick Miller found Next Star and NBA Draft hopeful Bobi Klintman with a crisp, pinpoint pass for an easy bucket against South East Melbourne.
Miller has played in leagues around the world and at 31, is the roster’s oldest player, while star import Tahjere McCall, 29, is the centrepiece of the roster Forde has built for his third season in charge at Cairns.
Defensive gun Bul Kuol is most the experienced player in terms of NBL games with 61 appearances, while five players are yet to play a game in the Australian league.
It’s opened the door to talk, yet again, about a Taipans roster which is young and lacks high-level experience.
Forde, the reigning coach of the year, doesn’t buy in to the apparent need for experience and backs every man he recruited to the “factory”.
“Games played will never be a greater factor than talent,” Forde said.
“We’ve got talent, we have arguably got the best back court in the league and neither of them have played a NBL game year.
“Bul is 61 games in … and for me, is the best small forward in the league. If you can give me a 300-game veteran, it doesn’t’ mean they’ll be any good on the court.”
Forde has developed a reputation for discovering and developing diamonds in these past few years, with Keanu Pinder the best example.
At the end of the bench at Adelaide, Pinder became a two-time NBL Most Improved award winner, was in the discussion for the MVP, and was part of the recent extended Boomers training squad for the World Cup.
Forde’s vision marries up with that of the Taipans, the community club which operates on a much smaller budget than the high-flying rivals from capital cities, but always happens to find and develop talents who not only hold their own, but become mainstays.
“We are a talented team,” Forde said.
“I know people are talking about the youth element but I have 20-year-olds who are running circles around guys who have had years of experience in the NBL.
“We have done a very thorough job, myself and the staff this season, in terms of the recruiting in who we wanted to target.
“We’ve got this talented roster we were really planning for.
“Expectations are high regardless of how many games players have made.
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“The main thing, especially for the fan base, is we have to put a product on the floor that they will be proud of, they will play for the entire 40 minutes.
“As I’ve said multiple times, our expectations – nobody is ever going to be able to dictate our terms on where we want to set the bar than ourselves.”
matthew.mcinerney1@news.com.au
Originally published as Why Taipans talent will overcome ‘lack of experience’ in NBL24
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