Taipans to Assess "Non-Negotiables" of Finals Hoops

Cairns coach Adam Forde has praised the impact of Tasmania’s bench in his side’s defeat to the JackJumpers and has called for his players to lock into the “non-negotiables” of Playoff basketball.

The Taipans fell by eight points in their home Seeding Qualifier to the JackJumpers, and as a result will now face Perth in a straight elimination Play-In game on Sunday afternoon.

The winner of that game will go into a best of three Playoff series against the Sydney Kings.

“We missed some great looks, we missed some bunnies at the rim and the more great looks we missed the more I think we tightened up and shied away from continuing to take them,” Forde said post-game.

“I felt like tonight there were uncharacteristic behaviours out there. Whether that’s to do with the moment or not I’d be making assumptions and I don’t want to d that.

“We need to be better with our moments. We were reacting to turnovers and dropping our heads – you’ve got to move on, get the ball back … we showed our lack of experience.

“There are a couple of things we want to highlight and say ‘these are the non-negotiables’ – but for the most part we have to move on and prepare for Perth.”

With both sides missing key players in the clash it was Tasmania’s second unit who stepped up to become a point of difference over the course of the game.

The Taipans’ bench scored just eight points between them as Tahjere McCall and Shannon Scott took the brunt of the scoring load, compared to the 46 points scored by the JackJumpers’ non-starters.

Isaac White top-scored for the bench unit with 18 points, while Jack McVeigh added 13 of his own.

“The reality is Tassie’s bench was amazing,” Forde said. “Every time we felt like we got a bit of a run we feel like momentum was taken away from us.

“For a lot of these guys it’s their first post-season type game, and they’re understanding the nature of that beast.

“We’ve got a sudden death game now on Sunday we need to prepare for so we can’t get too down on ourselves.”

Cairns hosts the Wildcats on Sunday, February 12 at 4pm AEDT, live & free on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, 10 Peach & 10 play.