I'm shocked.

Cairns Taipans have medical staff?

I thought they would have rolled Carera down to the local GP and put him on the public waiting list.

@LoveBroker, that's a bit mean! Dr Morrey is not on the Taipans staff or pay roll; he's a local surgeon who is a huge basketball fan and will put a Taipans player at the front of the queue for the club and the community. Great guy and a very well respected surgeon.

Carrera will also have very good physio at Total Physio (maybe not the very best in Cairns, but very good) and he may be back in 6 weeks - I'd be unhappy to see him back earlier than that, because I think it's very difficult to get over that type of surgery in such a short space of time.

I have to confess I did picture Fearney driving him down to the 24 medical centre and them both sitting there with all the backpackers getting their morning after pills...

With Nate's Medicare card.

Do they need one, he could be back on court before Xmas...?

Even more demands on Loughton?
He's shouldered the Marlins' first half of season, played big minutes in the visiting university exhibition matches, ditto for the Blitz. Bet he doubles up again till the Porsche is back on the road.
Obviously a bit of a Lout fan, and surprised to be in such a minority, but I think Cairns owes him some real respect.

Perfect excuse to dump this muppet, but not Fearne,let's flog the guts out of Loughton instead. Season over with one "non move"!

Loughton's still got a lot to give and to be fair to him the Marlins looked a lot shaker when he left (along with a few other changes) . But while he's a great team guy he can't be that Grabeau/Worthington pit bull that the team needs most and I think that's where they'll suffer. Unless someone else can step up and become that guy who just won't give up and can pull the team back into the game I can foresee a few losses when they have the classic taipans Q3 fade and nothing seems to be going down.

Any short term replacement expected?

What have Kuany and Smith looked like in pre season?

he'll miss 2 maybe 3 games, why are we dumping him? Especially given his pre-season form.

Also, Weigh would be more likely to take his minutes, rather than Al double his workload.

Loughton has about five first pumps in him, which is also how many buckets he has left in him

Lets not kid ourselves Fearne would still find some way to bring this guy off the bench behind Weigh.

At least Craig got the opportunity to get away from Fearne and show what he could do in Brisbane and now in Denver.

Because Craig didn't develop into the player he is today?......

Craig didn't get a chance to develop. His confidence was beaten down, I know that for a fact

Sure, part of being a professional athlete is dealing with that. Straight out of college, playing off the bench for a GF team. Why change a winning formula? The second season when he started half the games and dropped his efficiency.

He also put in a shitload of work in the following seasons, work that wasn't obvious in his time up here. The guy's grown into a magnificent example of what it is to be a professional basketballer. I hope he ends up as a starter and ends up being a vital piece of that Nuggets roster (which just quietly is going to be something else).

We've argued this before Manu, and I've got Cowboy fans to bag out tonight so we can just copy and paste our last chat about it.

I know many things for facts, most of which I can't put on internet forums :)

Haha, the chat a out how you can't see the wood from the trees. Yeah aight.

Enjoy

About*

Back to the topic.

After seeing Carrera at training a couple of times and playing pre-season, even if he was out for 2 months, I think he's worth the wait. Aside from the foul issues (he looked far more comfortable in the 2nd game against Perth), I think he could be a force in the NBL. Physically he's and a unique mix of mobility and wingspan, has a competitive drive that would make Wortho proud, and his game of both ends looks pretty well-rounded.

I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a small ball lineup in the rotation with Carrera at the 5 and Weigh at the 4. We wouldn't have the pnr coverage issues we've had in the past, and we'd still have a presence at the rim (which we've also lacked in the past).

hahaha you know i love our chats Manu - they're the only reason i come back to hoops ;)

Man I've loved the Porsche from day 1.

Is Carrera strong enough to defend in the paint without resorting to fouling?

I think he's strong enough, but he's still adjusting to the NBL officiating.

It's a question about savvy not strength IMO. Can he control that firery latin American blood! Man I'm sad we'll never see him Vs Redhage.

'Por-shu...Por-shu...Por-shu...'
[Manu F leading the Orange Army Chant Ensemble down at the Convention Centre.]
Gonna be another great season.

Not a good sign as an import by years gone past. Will he be replaced ?

KP, Manu and GB. What's the inside info on Smith. Is he quality. Need a bit of a heads up for DT purposes.

Haha I wish, Greybouy, but I don't catch many games these days. Not in town often enough.

Smith may have the best vision of any import PG we've had. But I feel like Fearne will put him in a box and restrict his flair.

May just lead the league in assists this year.

About that letting them play..... Wilbekin is one the phone Anon... from Europe... where he is earning millions per season....