Preview: Cairns vs Sydney - Round 5, NBL24

26 Oct

6 mins read

Written By

By Dan Woods for NBL.com.au

Can the Taipans bounce back from their disappointing loss, or will the Kings travel Far North and emerge with a win?

Saturday, October 28 at 8pm AEDT | Cairns Convention Centre

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The Taipans return home following a tough Thursday night loss to Illawarra, where a Tyler Harvey game-winner broke the hearts of the Cairns faithful.

Taran Armstrong failed a game day fitness test ahead of the Hawks game, but it remains to be seen if he’ll play any kind of role against the Kings.

DJ Hogg is set to return in a limited capacity for the Kings to face off against his former side, however Jaylin Galloway is likely to miss at least three weeks with a shoulder injury.

Sydney minority owner Andrew Bogut names Tasmania as championship favourites following the JackJumpers’ defeat of Sydney last week.

Cairns
83-84 loss to Illawarra
89-86 win over Brisbane
87-80 win over South East Melbourne

Sydney
95-105 loss to Tasmania
99-86 win over Perth
113-102 win over Brisbane

Bul Kuol
Cairns star Bul Kuol was obviously disgruntled with his team’s efforts in the loss to Illawarra when he turned up to the post-game press conference alongside Adam Forde, so it was no surprise to hear the harsh opinion he had of his own performance on Thursday night.

Kuol finished the game with a strong 19 points on 66 per cent shooting, which was enough to see him score the second-most out of anyone on the Taipans in the loss, but it wasn’t the offensive end he was frustrated with – it was the other end of the floor.

Offensively, he helped pick up the slack that’s been left with Tahjere McCall’s absence from the team due to the birth of his child, and if he can lift his defence to his DPOY-contender levels, Cairns will have a weapon on their hands.

Sam Waardenburg found himself on Tyler Harvey for the game-winning three point attempt, while Kuol found himself closing down late to put more pressure on the shot when, in actuality, the roles should have been reversed.

Kuol is going to come out with a point to prove against the Kings, and there would be no better team to bring his stifling defence to than the reigning champs.

“I needed to be better. I’m defence first and I was terrible on defence tonight, so I have to be better on defence.” – Bul Kuol following the loss to Adelaide.

Alex Toohey
Next Star Alex Toohey is very quickly firming as a genuine draft prospect in 2024, but a different kind of challenge awaits him against the Taipans in Round 5. DJ Hogg will be back in the lineup in some capacity and Jaylin Galloway will be missing through injury – so what does that look like for Toohey’s role?

Although Toohey has primarily been playing in Hogg’s natural four position, minority owner Andrew Bogut has said he sees the 19-year-old’s NBA prospects at small forward, which is the position that has been occupied by Galloway this season.

Just how good this kid is is no longer a secret in the NBL, and Jaylen Adams even likened the Kings’ acquisition of him to ‘cheating’ – that’s how highly-rated he is within those four walls. Let’s see how he goes in a new role within a firing offence.

“He’ll continue to get better, his three ball is starting to get better – we pegged him as a streaky shooter and it’s a matter of being consistent for him. His size and length, you can’t teach. He’s a big three/four, he plays four for us but he’s probably going to be a three at the end of the day, but he’s very aggressive to the rim and does a lot of good things.” – Andrew Bogut on Alex Toohey

Patrick Miller vs Jaylen Adams
If it weren’t for a piece of Tyler Harvey magic on Friday, the NBL fraternity would be lauding Patrick Miller as a game-winner ahead of Cairns’ clash with Sydney, but instead his impressive performance has almost been swept under the rug.

Miller started the season well ahead of the Taipans’ NBLxNBA tour, but took his game to a new level after facing off with Washington and Toronto, and he’s been instrumental to the Taipans’ fortunes due to Taran Armstrong’s injury struggles.

In his way this weekend is one of the best point guards in the NBL in Jaylen Adams. Adams’ dominance is likely being understated this season due to Sydney’s ‘by committee’ ethos on offence, but he hasn’t missed a beat since returning to the NBL.

An point guard battle between two in-form imports is one of the greatest things about NBL basketball, and that’s exactly what’s awaiting us ahead of Saturday night’s clash.

The home team has won each of the last five games between Cairns and Sydney. The last away win came in Round 3 of NBL23, when the Taipans defeated the Kings by five points at Qudos Bank Arena thanks to 16 points from both Keanu Pinder and Shannon Scott.

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Keanu Pinder against Sydney in NBL23.