NBL: Breakers hold on to defeat Taipans

Via the National Basketball League The New Zealand Breakers continue to be the great enigma of the NBL but they delivered three strong quarters on Monday night in the Tropical Far North to hold out the Cairns Taipans in a thrilling finish 84-83. The Breakers hadn’t played since a 19-point loss to the Sydney Kings eight days ago and that was just four days following their stunning 23-point victory over the Illawarra Hawks. They put both the best and worst of those performances all into one game at the Cairns…

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NBL22: Jarrod Kenny re-signs with Cairns

From nbl.com.au: The CQUniversity Cairns Taipans will welcome back point guard Jarrod Kenny, who has re-signed for his fourth consecutive season in orange. The 35-year-old first joined the Taipans on a two-year deal in 2018 and signed another contract ahead of 2020-2021. Kenny makes his return to the Far North after suiting up in the NZNBL for a remarkable 20th season, with his Hawks dealt a narrow loss from the Saints (77-75) in the Grand Final last night. He won the 2020 New Zealand Championship with the Nuggets. “JK” also…

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NBL21 Free Agency : Cairns signs Jordan Ngatai

from nbl.com.au: The CQUniversity Cairns Taipans have signed New Zealand forward Jordan Ngatai for NBL21. The four-time NZNBL Champion, 2015 NBL Champion and Tall Blacks representative on a two-year deal (second year Club option), his first NBL contract outside of New Zealand. The versatile forward recently won the NZNBL title where he averaged second in each major statical category: points (18.2) rebounds (5.7) and assists (4.5) for the Otago Nuggets, playing alongside Taipans guard Jarrod Kenny. Like Kenny, Ngatai has a storied career with extensive experience in the NBL, NZNBL…

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COVID-19 pandemic halts Taipans’ free agency

From nbl.com.au : Cairns coach Mike Kelly has revealed the COVID-19 situation has numerous Taipans locked down across the world, as the club’s free agency and offseason plans come to an unexpected halt. With a majority of Cairns’ playing group already settled in different cities globally to begin their winter programs, the COVID-19 lockdown has thrown a spanner in the works and forced the Taipans to adjust their methods. After a stunning NBL20 campaign, where Cairns fell one win shy of qualifying for the Grand Final, Kelly wants his side…

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Cairns pushes series to decisive Game 3 with 85-74 win

From nbl.com.au: The Cairns Taipans have answered every challenge so far in a remarkable #NBL20 campaign and they responded to the call on Sunday at Cairns Convention Centre to fix up what went wrong Friday and beat the Perth Wildcats 85-74 in Game 2 of the semi-final series. MVP Bryce Cotton was simply unstoppable on Friday night despite the best defender in the league DJ Newbill making him work hard for everything he earned. Cotton still delivered 42 points including 10/19 shooting from three and the Snakes just couldn’t let…

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Melbourne keeps hopes alive with 99-83 win over Cairns

From nbl.com.au : Melbourne United took a significant step towards salvaging their season by still reaching the post-season knocking off the finals bound Cairns Taipans in likely their best performance of #NBL20 on Thursday. With 6315 fans screaming like a sold out crowd at Melbourne Arena, United found a way to score their first win over the Taipans in four tries and keep alive their hopes of finishing in fourth place. The loss for the Snakes means they are locked into finishing in third position as their four-game winning streak…

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Cairns beats up on Adelaide 108-91

From nbl.com.au : The Cairns Taipans have taken another significant step towards what would be a remarkable NBL finals appearance after Saturday night’s 108-91 smackdown of the Adelaide 36ers at Cairns Convention Centre. The Snakes were in charge all night for a complete wire-to-wire masterclass of three-point shooting, as four Snakes drained three triples or more and the team went 16/35 from downtown, including an unconscious 7/9 third term. Cairns now holds a 13-10 record with a strong points percentage, but have just a single home game remaining – against…

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NBL Preview: Round 10 Cairns v New Zealand

From NBL.com.au : When: 7.30pm (AEDT), Friday 6 December Where: Cairns Convention Centre Broadcast: ESPN; Sky Sports NZ; SBS On Demand The last time New Zealand 93 (Webster 23, Hampton 18, Ashley 14) d Cairns 85 (Oliver 23, Deng 18, Noi 16), Round 5, Spark Arena This was a bad day for the Breakers. Forget the eight-point win or the incredible Corey Webster performance or even the defensive effort that forced Cairns into 19 turnovers, because this was the day they lost Scotty Hopson to injury. All the on-court struggles and off-court dramas…

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Kouat Noi puts NBL on notice: “I think I am going to win Rookie of the Year”

Written for nbl.com.au by Liam Santamaria Cairns Taipans rookie Kouat Noi believes he’ll have a major impact on the NBL right out of the gate. The versatile forward has made it clear that he’s not messing around when it comes to his debut professional season, declaring himself the best rookie to enter the NBL in over a decade. Noi, who turned pro back in May after two years at Texas Christian University (TCU), is expected to start and play major minutes for the Taipans this season. And the 21-year-old is…

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Tom Jervis signs with Cairns

From nbl.com.au : The Cairns Taipans have announced the signing of three-time NBL Champion Tom Jervis for their upcoming 2019/20 campaign. The experienced 211cm centre commits to Cairns on a two-year deal, after playing for the Perth Wildcats and Brisbane Bullets, achieving averages of 7.1 points and 4.8 rebounds across his six-year career. Taipans Head Coach Mike Kelly said that he was pleased he could acquire Jervis’ signature, and that all of his winning traits were transferrable to the Cairns program. “Tom is good player on both ends of the court. Tom frees up his…

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