Armstrong's dream chasing lands him in San Francisco
Improving from 7.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists across his first season to 17.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists in his latest campaign, Armstrong developed quickly during his time as a Taipan with the guard recognising the support from the club.
“Cairns has been such an important part of my journey, and it’s going to get more and more difficult for guys to walk out of college and get the opportunity that I was so fortunate to receive,” Armstrong said.
“I was starting as a point guard straight out of college – I’d only been playing two years, and I was young – but all of that is a massive credit to Fordey trusting and instilling a lot of belief in me, especially during that first year.”
Sitting out the opening rounds of the 2023-24 season with a foot injury, the former California Baptist Lancer first hit the court as a Taipan when the side faced the Washington Wizards during the 2023 NBA pre-season, with the Tasmanian dishing eight assists with three steals on his debut.
Armstrong is locking it DOWN 😤
— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) October 11, 2023
Taran has three steals!
📲 @cairnstaipans | 📺 @kay pic.twitter.com/2xSHTJEoqN
Going on to start 13 of the 23 remaining games, the guard set his NBA ambitions in motion during the following off-season – initially joining the Australian Boomers, before flying into Europe to participate in the Adidas Eurocamp and finishing with the NBA G League Elite Camp.
Showcasing his talents in front of NBA scouts, coaches and executives, Armstrong impressed and was named in the Adidas Eurocamp’s All-Camp Team before returning to Cairns for his second season.
“I’ve obviously shown something where Fordey was willing to double down and back me in for another year. Your coach’s belief and the confidence that a coach can put in you can do a lot, and I can’t say that I’ve had a coach that does it better than him.”
Starting in every game that he appeared in, Armstrong saw an increase across the entire stat sheet – evident from his first game where he scored 22 points with four rebounds and five assists, leading to a win against the Tasmania JackJumpers.
Reaching a career high 29 points against the JackJumpers in Round 11, the guard formed a dynamic duo with Rob Edwards across the season, with the pair sealing a win against Illawarra on the ladder leader’s home court.
Only failing to reach double digits three times across the campaign, Armstrong closed out his time in Cairns by recording the only triple double of the season with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against the Brisbane Bullets.
Entering the record books, the guard became the first Taipan to reach a triple double in the franchise’s history and the first 28+ point triple double in the NBL since LaMelo Ball in 2019, with the current Charlotte Hornet needing eight extra minutes to manage the feat.
“This has just been a snapshot of what he’s capable of doing. If you look at the areas that he’s needed to work on, he’s gone away and worked on them and there’s no one else that can claim that responsibility and that success other than Taran,” Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde explained.
“He’s the one that’s logged all those minutes for it, and there’s a lot of guys that like to talk about being in the gym and they’ll post it, but there’s a lot of guys that don’t do that and they’ll just say it. Taran does it, and he doesn’t hype it up – he just chips away at it as it is a daily process.”
San Francisco will welcome Armstrong eight months after former Taipan Bobi Klintman was drafted by the Detroit Pistons, with Cairns also helping develop Cameron Oliver, Devon Hall and Torrey Craig across the past decade before their respective NBA careers.
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