Game Preview: Taipans v Phoenix

Coming off a week-long break after the Queensland derby, the Taipans will enter the matchup rested and with more troops arriving. They’ll welcome back Taran Armstrong who rejoins the lineup with Deshon Taylor making his first appearance, and Tanner Groves a gameday decision to return to the court.

Meanwhile, the Phoenix are entering the fixture to close out their third straight double-header weekend after narrowly going down to the Kings on Friday night.

Where and When

Sunday, 10 November at John Cain Arena, Melbourne (1:30pm AEST)

How to Follow

Watch: Live on Channel 10 and ESPN

Live Updates: Taipans X

Stats: Box Score

What’s Already Happened

Round 7 Results

Cairns Taipans (88) v Brisbane Bullets (92)

South East Melbourne Phoenix (79) v Tasmania JackJumpers (77)

South East Melbourne Phoenix (100) v Perth Wildcats (76)

Round 8 Results

South East Melbourne Phoenix (69) v Sydney Kings (74)

After reloading with fresh players, the Taipans will be entering the Saturday afternoon fixture aiming for a win after coming very close to overcoming the Bullets in the Queensland derby despite being undermanned.

Without three of their starters, Rob Edwards and Sam Waardenburg ensured that Cairns led half of the game before Brisbane made a late charge to steal the win, but now have backup arriving with multiple additions to their squad.

Rejoining the lineup is Taran Armstrong, who will be hoping to lead his squad to victory after winning all three of his last appearances in orange and has averaged a plus/minus of +19.5 this season, with Deshon Taylor also suiting up to help guide the ship.

WHAT A PASS 😮‍💨

Armstrong to Waardenburg for the SPLASH 💦

📲 @cairnstaipans | 📺 @espn pic.twitter.com/E9R20xQukf

— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) October 6, 2024

After ending last season as one of the worst rebounding sides in the league, the Taipans have ensured that they wouldn’t see a repeat of the feat and enter Round 8 as the second-best defensive rebounding team.

This will be a major opportunity for Cairns in their battle with the Phoenix, who have struggled on the boards and currently rank last for offensive rebounds – resulting in them also ranking last for second chance points on their home court.

A major key to this is the absence of Jordan Hunter throughout games, with the center nearly doubling his next teammate for offensive rebounds whilst averaging just over 23 minutes per game – however only picked up two boards on Friday night.

Whilst he is off the court, the Phoenix have played without a true center and instead relied on their forwards to clean up their misses who average a combined 3.9 offensive rebounds between the four of them.

For the Phoenix, they’ll be looking to rekindle their recent hot streak after struggling to open their season. Initially taking six games to find a win, they’ve won four of their six most recent games with new Head Coach Josh King reigniting their season.

However, they’re entering Saturday afternoon’s matchup after falling late to the Kings in Sydney, during which they led for the opening 36 minutes of the game before Sydney snatched the win from them whilst also posting their lowest score this season.

Once more losing the rebounds battle (52-40), the Phoenix struggled to find their touch from deep and only hit nine of their 41 attempts from three across the night, but will face a sharpshooting Taipans lineup who score a league leading 37.9% of their points from three.

Player to Watch

After joining the starting lineup in Round 7 in his third NBL game, Alex Higgins-Titsha has made a strong case to steal court time from his teammates. Ending his night with 11 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, the Taipans development player could continue to see plenty of minutes with Pedro Bradshaw sidelined for two months, and with his Head Coach wanting to see more performances like it.

The forward has also shown his strength in getting after the ball with two steal and five blocks across his three games – ranking him second in the league for blocks.

Don't jump 😉

Alex with the easy inside bucket!

📲 @cairnstaipans | 📺 @espn pic.twitter.com/gIQAX0CQWE

— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) November 2, 2024

What’s Been Said

Taipans assistant coach Will Lopez:

“Those guys won two games with Sam Mackinnon, and now they've won two games with Josh King, so one good weekend can put you right back in the pack.

“So we’re of the same mindset of the next two games before the FIBA break, and if we can knock these both off then we’re right back in the pack with two thirds of the season to go.

“Tanner and Taran are back on court and trying to get through some loaded stuff, and Kyle’s doing the same sort of thing.

“But right now it’s just about getting them back in the flow and with some activity, then we’ll make an assessment later in the week.”

Phoenix Head Coach Josh King:

“We're playing a dangerous team on Sunday.

"I've watched Cairns a lot and I had Sam Waardenburg in Ludwigsburg, and they're going to be tough, they're going to be physical, and they're going to do a lot of the same things that Sydney did tonight.

"We're going to have to play well on Sunday if we want to beat a tough Cairns.”

The Lineups

Taipans

PG – Taran Armstrong / Jackson Makoi / Kyle Adnam

SG – Deshon Taylor / Jonah Antonio

SF – Kyrin Galloway / Alex Higgins-Titsha

PF – AK Gak / Dillon Stith

C – Sam Waardenburg / Tanner Groves

Phoenix

PG – Derrick Walton Jr. / Owen Foxwell / Ben Ayre

SG – Nathan Sobey / Angus Glover / Luke Rosendale / Luke Fennell

SF – Matthew Hurt / Joe Wieskamp / Matt Kenyon

PF – Malique Lewis / Tom Vodanovich

C – Jordan Hunter / Majok Majok

Ins and Outs 

Taipans

Game time decision – Tanner Groves (calf)

Ins – Taran Armstrong, Deshon Taylor, Alex Higgins-Titsha

Outs – Pedro Bradshaw (ankle), Rob Edwards

Phoenix

Ins – Derrick Walton Jr. (hamstring), Majok Majok (illness)