Game Preview: Taipans v Bullets

As their only fixtures of the round, both sides will be looking to return to the winner’s circle, with the Taipans wanting to revive their form from earlier in the season.

After returning from Round 6 with an injured Pedro Bradshaw, Nominated Injury Replacement Player Tad Dufelmeier once more rejoins the squad, with Alex Higgins-Titsha and Kody Stattmann also suiting up at the Cairns Convention Centre. 

Where and When

Saturday, 2 November at the Cairns Convention Centre (7:00pm AEST)

How to Follow

Watch: Live on ESPN

Live Updates: Taipans X

Stats: Box Score

What’s Already Happened

Round 6 Results

Cairns Taipans (93) v Adelaide 36ers (99)
Cairns Taipans (63) v Melbourne United (106)
Brisbane Bullets (79) v Tasmania JackJumpers (87)

With both teams entering Round 7 sitting next to each other on the ladder and without a win last week, it is set to be an intense battle at the Cairns Convention Centre between the interstate rivals.

Entering the game without a win last round, the Taipans showed glimpses of their talent despite missing over half of their starters and will view their encounter with eighth placed Brisbane as a chance to get a win on the board.

Wrapping up their first half in Adelaide, the Taipans were able to hit 11 of their shots from deep – from only 19 attempts – whilst more than doubling the boards that the 36ers had cleaned up.

However, without Pedro Bradshaw after he fell awkwardly on his ankle, and for a stint without AK Gak who dislocated his finger, the pushed their hosts into overtime.

After scoring over 90 points across three of their first four games – winning all three of them – Cairns have yet to reach that mark in regulation time since, something that has been hampered by Rob Edwards needing to assist with the ball handling duties.

Despite not meeting each other since the beginning of the season, the two Queensland sides met once during the pre-season – a game that the Bullets won by three points, 85-82.

Stattmann finishes through the contact 😤

📲 @cairnstaipans | 📺 @kayosports pic.twitter.com/JcbClFQteL

— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) September 14, 2024

However, it was also a game in which Adam Forde turned to his bench unit, with Tad Dufelmeier the only starter to see over 11 minutes of court time in the fixture as the injured Taipans combined for six points across 18 minutes.

Since that encounter, Brisbane have struggled to gain traction as they’ve launched into their season – opening with a losing streak, before scraping through two wins against the Phoenix and Breakers.

To play their only fixture of the round, the Bullets be walking onto a court which hasn’t been kind to them over the years. Despite winning both appearances at the Convention Centre last year, their only other win since January 2018

Player to Watch

Missing two of his teammates in the front court, AK Gak hasn’t been afraid to step up and claim his court time. After already improving on his stats from last season, the forward has since quadrupled his points per game and doubled his rebounds per game since Tanner Groves sustained his injury.

TOUGH and-one from Gak 💪

📲 @cairnstaipans | 📺 @espn pic.twitter.com/zd6Ban2BKe

— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) October 27, 2024

Facing him will be Tyrell Harrison – a daunting task for the Taipans front court to contain after his dominant performances in recent rounds. The center finished off Brisbane’s first win of the season with 17 rebounds – 12 of them offensive – and has since continued to focus on rebounding at the offensive end, while also blocking three shots in his last outing.

What’s Been Said

Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde:

“You could feel it in the change room after the game – the guy’s care, and they just need to understand where to direct their energy. 

“You can't do this on your own. You can’t expect Sam and Rob to do it on their own. It has to be a collective effort, and everybody has to help carry the workload. 

“It’s not just one or two guys I need to step up – we’ve got three guys out, and everybody needs to basically help carry the load.”

Taipans forward Dillon Stith:

“I’m getting a lot of an opportunity, and I know more of it is coming. For me I’ve had talks with the coaches, and it’s all about how do we find a way to get a win. 

“Obviously last weekend we didn’t take care of business in Melbourne, and we came short in Adelaide.

“We have the team, we have the personnel, we have the grit – it’s just about being consistent – and there’s still a lot of games left.”

The Lineups

Taipans

PG – Kyle Adnam / Tad Dufelmeier / Jackson Makoi

SG – Rob Edwards / Jonah Antonio

SF – Kyrin Galloway / Alex Higgins-Titsha

PF – AK Gak / Kody Stattmann

C – Sam Waardenburg / Dillon Stith

Bullets

PG – Mitch Norton / James Batemon / Emmett Naar

SG – Keandre Cook / Isaac White

SF – Casey Prather / Jarred Bairstow

PF – Josh Bannan / Tohi Smith-Milner / Josh Kunen

C – Tyrell Harrison / Rocco Zikarsky

Ins and Outs 

Taipans

Ins - Alex Higgins-Titsha, Kody Stattmann, Tad Dufelmeier

Outs – Taran Armstrong (ankle), Tanner Groves (calf), Pedro Bradshaw (ankle)

Bullets

Ins – Emmett Naar, Josh Kunen

Outs – Deng Adel (illness)