says Boti..

https://www.foxsports.com.au/basketball/nbl/cairns-taipans-hire-former-united-assistant-mike-kelly-as-new-head-coach/news-story/3ce9a8f58cea86802ded1414600672ad

>THE Cairns Taipans have hired former Melbourne United assistant, Mike Kelly, as their new head coach, a club spokesperson told foxsports.com.au.
Kelly will join the Taipans on a two-year deal, taking over the reigns from Aaron Fearne, who was at the helm of the team for the past nine seasons.

officialy offical via taipans FB

Yeah I'll take that.

Taipans have run with the 'extensive recruitment process' rhetoric. I like their approach in keeping fans informed about this process.

Well done, Snakes. The lack of communication during awards night was abhorrent but they did this one well. Interesting time to release the news. No good for their local paper, which can't run anything until Monday

If this is in the 'Post tomorrow we'll know that they've kissed and made up with the Taipans. I did wonder about the way recent emails have been phrased though:

"Social media, the broader basketball community and even print media are speculating on potential replacements and a number of assumptions are being made. It was with a certain level of amusement I read articles naming potential coaches.

I can assure you that this is purely speculation, with zero confirmation from the Club.

As already mentioned, we will not disclose names of any applicants or enquiries we have received. It is not the way we work.

If you read an article that does not contain an official quote from our Club and/or current Board, we trust you will recognise speculation dressed up as journalism, and I recommend you take all those reports with a very large grain of salt."

hope he does well.
At least he has done his apprenticeship

So the Taipans have hired a coach with exactly 16 games (8-8 record) of Head Coaching experience in the QBL?

Kelly might be a nice guy and a good basketball mind, but is extremely inexperienced compared to some of the other candidates that have applied for the job.

There is a huge difference between sitting on the bench as an Assistant Coach and actually shifting one chair down to being the Head Coach - having to make in game tactical decisions, decide on lineups and subs, hold players accountable. And the only thing that prepares you for those decisions is actually making them over a long period of time.

That's been the recipe for success for the recent (last 10 years) NBL championship winning coaches - Vickerman, Gleeson, Beveridge, Lemanis. All had been Head Coaches for multiple years prior to winning the championships (either in the NBL NZNBL, American CBA, State League).

And the Taipans ignored this, and instead hired someone with 16 games of Head Coaching experience and a .500 record.

Well History man don't panic, I can guarantee you that Mike cannot, I repeat cannot, deliver any less titles to Cairns than Fearne did!

The Taipans front office is comically fragile when it comes to the media. Need to learn how to work with the media rather than trying to control it.

Kelly was probably the cheapest option, now they'll put a young team together on a shoestring budget, and like most under talented and outmatched teams Kelly is already talking about uptempo, fun style, disruptive... sounds like the Crocs before they died.

How will Moller look in orange? Who else?

Thunder Jam: True. If that's the saving grace for this hire, your setting a low bar for the Taipans. Onwards and downwards I say!

But seriously, wasn't the point of the club moving on from Fearne was that he didn't win a championship and they wanted to hire a coach who could take them to the next level?

Apparently they had a "comprehensive recruitment process" (clubs quote). But it was so comprehensive that it didn't actually involve doing any research into the attributes of recent championship coaches in the NBL. Or they did their research and thought, lets do the opposite!

Either way, some very serious questions should be asked by the Board/sponsors/season ticket holders of Beecroft and the external recruiting firm.

Again, I have nothing against Mike and wish him all the best. But this is just a completely misguided hire and one that the Taipans couldn't afford to mess up when they had a very good incumbent and most likely, many more suitable applicants.

It really gripes me when "fans" say they won't renew their memberships because of who the coach (or in some cases, certain players) is! I feel fortunate to have an NBL team to support here in Cairns! To be able to watch top quality NBL games in our town is fantastic.

Don't worry there is still the other three paying members.

he'll be okay. I was more concerned we'd get downer or Pearlman, both great assistant coaches but Def. more of the same. we needed something different and I'm optimistic now about seeing something new put out on the court. we were never going to be able to afford to bring in a coach with an amazing pedigree and my feeling is that Kelly will be a good fit and probably has all the right attributes to grow into the role, even if he takes time to find his feet.

Assuming that Mike was affordable and indicated he'd be able to recruit decently within he club’s means.

Feel free to poach Te Rangi from Brisbane Mike.

Give the guy a chance you sooks.
Hope he brings all new assistants to break open the local yokel past.

Thunder Jam, ppl will give him a chance, he seems well liked, but if your highest paid import earns less $$ than Uniteds while starting 5 what chance do you have?

Same as Dennis before crocs folded, he could pull of a coach of the year performance and still finish bottom 2.

There is a lot to be said for a coach's familiarity with a league and its players/administration. Mike knows this league by being around it for so long. A coach who has pedigree as a North America-based coach for his entire career may not see success translated to a different continent where so many things are different.

Chill out and give Mike an actual chance. Remember Dean Demopoulos? Remember our boy Sweat Towel Joe?

I agree with you Manu and also with CT's comments. When it's all said and done I think he is as good a choice as any. A bit of a gamble possibly (without the head coaching experience) however I would think Beecroft and Troy Stone saw more in him than just the fact he would do the job for the money they were offering (which is quite possibly more than most people think - Fearne was not being paid peanuts).

Would there be a coach in the league on less than in Cairns assuming Kelly earns the same as Fearne was?

it's not just the on-court stuff they're recruiting for. he's a family man who's lived in fnq before with a wife and 3 kids, so he fits the type of person they can sell to the locals. I would expect that he made all the right noises about buying into the whole off-court community focus the club has going and this all makes him a more attractive package than someone who's purely a coach and nothing more. the club needs someone in this position who's a hard worker and going to be an ambassador for the game with the local basketball programs, juniors, local schools, and all the other stuff that Fearney did.

I've just finished listening to the interview dj Rod and vandy put together for the long and short of it podcast, gives a good insight into where he's at and what he's about:

https://soundcloud.com/user-68199555/nbl-episode-10-mike-kelly

Those saying Mike Kelly inexperienced as head coach, but at some point every head coach was given a chance at some point and was a rookie head coach? Do we just not give people a chance to step up and give em a job at head coach when they 50 or 55 coz they deemed inexperienced? Seriously, of course you have to give new coaches a start and not look outside for an experienced foreign head coach, and try and promote giving local coaches a chance. Mike is American but been in OZ for ages..

history dude I disagree.
Experience in a far lesser league is inconsequential. What counts is how much he has learnt in the NBL. So for Cairns that means looking for a good assistant.

Lets not kid ourselves, Cairns would have been looking to spend the bare minimum, which limits their options.

As for how much he has actually learnt. and whether he'll be able to successfully implement it, well that's the judgement Cairns had to make as part of the process.
They don't have the luxury of going after a Vickerman even if one was available.

CT - your argument is that the club couldn't afford to bring in a top level coach. With the scarcity of NBL Head Coaching jobs, or any Head Coaching jobs worldwide, and the number of top coaches who don’t have jobs, its definitely a buyers market. I would bet they could have gotten someone far more expereinced with a Head Coaching skill set for the money they were offering.

You also said "the club needs someone in this position who's a hard worker and going to be an ambassador for the game with the local basketball programs, juniors, local schools, and all the other stuff that Fearney did". Agreed this is important. But equally important is someone who has a track record of winning games as a Head Coach. Kelly doesn’t have this. If the team finishes with losing records and don’t win games, all the community work in the world wont bring fans to games.

Manu – you are correct in saying familiarity with the league is a positive. Again I make the point that there would have been applicants with the same level, if not more, NBL experience than Mike. Kelly only has one more year more of NBL experience than current Taipans Assistant Coach Jamie Pearlman who also applied for the job.

Your mention of the failures of Demopoulos and Connelly just support my point about Assistant coaches with little to no Head Coaching experience failing in ther NBL. Dean Demopolous had been a college and NBA Assistant Coach for a lot longer than Mike Kelly, but similarly had only one year of Head Coaching experience (At university of Kansas – Missouri City where he had a 14-16 record). Joe Connelly was a player development coach in the NBA and the only Head Coaching jobs he had done was on the AAU circuit. Not surprising both failed. Head Coaching is a different skill set than being an Assistant Coach, Video Analyst, Player Development coach. Just like dribbling, passing nd shooting are all different skillsets.

Matt – you are right in saying at some point an NBL Head Coach has to be given his first job and will be a rookie. But if you read my posts, the ones that are successful have cut their teeth as Head Coaches in second tier leagues, along with, been an Assistant Coach in the NBL. For example, Dean Vickerman had been a Head Coach in the NZNBL for five seasons prior to taking the reins at the Breakers (and had one a championship there). He had been working on his Head Coaching skills at the same time as being an AC at the Breakers. So he was ready when he stepped up to being the Breakers Head Coach. My question is, why didn’t Mike Kelly ever coach Big V, SEABL or take a Head Coaching job in college. The only time he worked on his Head Coaching skills was the aforementioned 16 games of a QBL season.

D2 – you said “Experience in a far lesser league is inconsequential”. That’s not at all factually accurate. Do your research before you post. Again you look at the past 10 years of NBL championship coaches and all of them have had experiecne in lower (but not far lesser as you put it) leagues.

Yes, and all of them wear shoes, so clearly footwear is the most important factor.
I suspect underpants also, but you can never be 100% certain.

Thanks for that contribution to the thread D2. Always humorous when someone doesnt have facts on their side, they digress to silly comments.

Good luck pushing the local media away when you're a community club.

http://www.cairnspost.com.au/nbl-club-cairns-taipans-miss-their-target/news-story/d7751c498a82a4c5153f8463524a21ae

The community-owned club specifically decided to announce the appointment late last Friday night to miss the deadlines of all local media organisations and deprive their fans, who annually cough up big money to be a season member, of the news.