Are the Taipans missing serious import bite?

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Damon Lowery has called for Cairns import Josh Roberts to find ways to have a bigger impact on the current Taipans roster.

If the Cairns Taipans are to have a big impact this season, they have an immediate problem to solve.

Heading into the second half of the season Josh Roberts - one of the Taipans' two new imports for NBL24 alongside Patrick Miller - hasn't played the number of minutes that would usually be expected of an import, and it's a major concern according to NBL analysts Damon Lowery and Derek Rucker.

“They’re playing with two imports. Josh Roberts, I can’t find him, I don’t even know if he’s still in Queensland,” Lowery said on NBL Now.

“He has done something to upset the [Adam] Forde universe.”

Roberts is playing his professional season for the Taipans after being recruited from NCAA Division I side Manhattan.

The 24-year-old has started his NBL career slowly, and is averaging just 5.4 minutes and one point per game across seven appearances – numbers not usually associated with a coveted import position.

Lowery says Roberts doesn’t have to be the star on the team, but believes the Taipans need to find a way to get more out of him.

“I don’t know what they brought him out here to do, maybe be kind of a role player? Every import doesn’t have to be a 20-10 guy, you need your role playing imports and well,” he said.

Aside from getting more productivity and minutes from Roberts, Cairns also needs to get its best players on the court together.

Due to injury and personal circumstances, many out of the team’s control, stars like Tahjere McCall, Patrick Miller, Taran Armstrong and Next-Star Bobi Klintman have all been absent from the side at crucial points of the early season.

“I need to see Tahjere and Klintman and some of those guys, those top notch guys," Rucker said. "When you got a little injury, stop sitting out the whole game,” Rucker said.

“Give me as much as you have in this game. I don’t care if its twelve minutes, I don’t care if its seven minutes. Stop ruling yourself out, medical staff give more leniency to the athletes to make their own decisions about whether or not they can play.”

<iframe src="https://omny.fm/shows/nbl-now/nbl-now-cairns-taipans-round-table-edition/embed?style=artwork" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write" width="100%" height="180" frameborder="0" title="NBL NOW | Cairns Taipans | Round Table Edition"></iframe>

Cairns currently sit seventh on the ladder with a 4-6 record, and face tough match-ups against Brisbane and Melbourne in Round 9.

The Taipans' clash with Brisbane will be broadcast live on ESPN via Kayo on Friday at 7:30pm AEDT , while their game against Melbourne will be shown live on ESPN via Kayo Freebies | 10 Peach and 10 Play on Sunday at 2pm AEDT.