Two teams who really need a W, although Cairns obviously need it more. I think JJs will bounce back after some sub-par performances and pick up a close road win.

Cmon Tazzie!!!

Kuol on three fouls at end of first, dumb fouls, even contest, 22 all

Average sort game, could be the pressure on both re winning. JJs by one.

Oh look, one team is making there 3s, the other is not.
Thats all the basketball is.
Nothing else matters.
NOTHING

Crawford bee great.

Nice payback for Magnay the dog

Disgusting foul by McCall, looks like a serious injury. Cairns have turned into a very unsavoury team. Between flopping, grabbing, never stop complaining, head throwing.

Just saw the 3 pointers and thought I bet Jacket has commented, and came here and look. Another useless comment.

Pay back, I hope he gets weeks, I like my basketball tough but to line a bloke up and bang your shoulder into him is disgusting.

fn ordinary from Mccall

Glad Magnay trucked Miller earlier in the game. Too many guards try to pull that shit on bigs running down the floor.

Imo the nbl got look at it, you can't allow that stuff to happen. Magnay has had enough bad luck with injuries to cop that.

Taipans first team out...

Said it before, I'll say it again- JJs are the biggest threat to United.

Id almost say they're The only team I'm seriously worried about (if United's healthy). The only team I could see winning a 3 or 5 game series. Not saying they will, but they're a serious threat

Roth not happy about hit at end press conference, said wait for nbl to take care of it.

Magnay fucked around and found out.

Didn't help that he was yapping to Cairns all game.

Miller lined Magnay up, dropped his shoulder and Will met fire with fire. The McCall one was a dirty play on someone who was vulnerable.

The bigger picture is for years the NBL has let guards get away with stepping in front of big men, had they sorted that out like they should have long ago, neither of these incidents would have happened.

Cairns have been very ordinary this season. McCall is a great player who i would let go - it's not all about him.

Forde & co have been a bunch of whiney thugs.

Although the guard stepping in front of a moving player is not a good look if the big who is running the lane is not looking where he is going then the guard is entitled to that spot as he got there first, as long as time and distance etc are adhered too. But neither of these 2 hits were like that. Miller tried to check him in transition and gut busted up, McCall just did a flat out dirty play that we do not want in our game. It was the 2nd time in the game McCall tried to check him on a dive, the other was late in the second.

Weird season for Cairns. Maybe too much tweaking with the starting 5, although given how they've come out in games I understand it from Forde. Probably just not the right mix of imports/locals. A bit of a logjam of locals who float around the same wing positions, a next star who plays that same position, and an import big who has swung wildly between dominant and mediocre and has been stuck to the bench more often than not. I think McCall/Miller are a good combo, but maybe not the best mix with their locals.

Cairns have been very ordinary this season. McCall is a great player who i would let go - it's not all about him.

Forde & co have been a bunch of whiney thugs.

Cairns haven't been ordinary all season @orbit, they have been very good at times. Inconsistent is possibly a better description. Whilst it has been a disappointing season overall, I think people's expectations were unrealistic. Hogg (in particular) and Pinder have been big losses and Waardenburg hasn't had a great season, when you compare it to how he was playing in the second half of last season. There were a lot of changes of personnel and the NBA trip really messed up our season, in my view. The December schedule we were presented with (partly because of the NBA trip) was brutal and we rarely had a full complement of players, which has messed with on court continuity.

I think your description of Forde & co as whiney is fair enough however I don't think we are thugs. McCall may have overstepped the mark last night but the NBL will adjudicate on that (as Roth mentioned). I thought Magnay was very lucky to avoid an unsportsman like foul himself for his hit on Miller and he had no hesitation in urging the crowd to keep booing him. He is not an angel although some would like to think so.

As for letting McCall go, he has been very good for the Taipans overall. We obviously need some changes and I don't think we can keep both him and Miller going forward. Both players didn't play well in the 2 previous games and Miller turns over the ball as much as McCall. Miller is probably our MVP this season though. I also think Armstrong has complicated matters this season with his guaranteed minutes. I don't think that has always benefitted us. Perhaps Forde was telegraphing that McCall may be on the way out with him starting from the bench last night (although he did play off the bench quite a bit last season).

It will be interesting to see how we play in our last 2 games and is going to be an interesting off season. We have supposedly re-signed Waardenburg, which I think is a good start.

AngusH's post above is a good overview from a non-Taipans man.

Waardenburg and Mennenga were able to provide such a punch last season because Pinder and Hogg distracted the opposition big men and tall defenders. Losing Pinder and Hogg suddenly meant that the two Sam's became the primary targets, and it shows in Waardenburg’s play. Mennenga seems to have stepped up, and I like watching him play.

Kuol has been found out by the refs, which has affected his confidence and stats. I understand Forde has to be seen to be loyal, but when one of your players acts like a total dickhead then let him know it so that he does something about it.

I appreciated McCall in the beginning because of the flair and skill and team-first mentality he brought, but this season he gives me the impression that he’s too full of himself. Miller the same. I’d keep Miller and move McCall on.

I’d also move on one (or even two) of Gak, Kuol and Mayen because they play too similar on court (or aren’t being used properly).

I’ve loved watching Klintman play.

But in general Cairns are losing my support because of the whinging, head-checks and crying out every time someone touches them, cheap shots, and what I see as a degree of arrogance from some which isn’t justified imho.

Twinkletoes. As for Cairns not being thugs you only have to look at Kuol's 1st foul when he lined up Crawford with his shoulder & dropped it straight into his jaw with force. That should’ve been an unsportsmanlike foul
Magnays hit on Miller was nothing, Miller lined him up & stopped & shouldered him & moved into him, Magnay just kept running and gave him what he got. Foul on Magnay but nothing intentional.

Kuol should have taken the big money when it was available, his grabbing defence has been caught out, again, commentary telling us all last season and even this how good a defender he was I could not understand, it was mostly illegal.
I always had a soft spot for Cairns but the way they have gone about it this season hasn't been good.

Love some of the comments(opinions) about the Taipans on here.
Especially the " i the first to complain" gent, which is about the only truth in any of those statement. As noted by someone more knowledge than me, Opinions are like Ass****s, everyone has one, just the better ones usually have some form of proof or stats to to give the opinion some credibility.
Kuol is a good defender, not liked by a section of Refs( talking about you, Mayberry).
Angush is probably closest to the right reasons for the slip this year, but we lost last night for the simply reason that we could not shoot the 3 ball or the free throws last night. ( jacket is pretty right in that).
As to the thuggery calls, get a grip, most teams in the comp play pretty aggressivly, all coaches complain.
McCall hit was probably pay back for Millers Hits, But Magnay sure talked a big game also, and lets not mention Baynes, Sobey, Cotton, Mccarron, Goulding and the list of other floppers and whingers throught the league.
I think you are all a little one eyed, But i know it is just your opinion ( and should be taken with a grain of salt)

We are all allowed our opinions, you can agree or disagree, your choice. Kuol was never a good defender, he was a grabber, that's my opinion and I’m sticking to it. Magnay got hit dangerously, we will see what nbl thinks, again imo.

100% correct, we are all entitled to our opinions, and you certainly have a bucket load of them, do you have a file for all of them ( must be hard to keep track)!!!

Dunkman in my opinion is up there as the most reasoned and thoughtful poster on here...value his posts. I do not agree with everything he posts but reckon he is on point most of the time.

If McCall's hit on Magnay was in retaliation to the earlier call involving Miller does not justify it, disproportionate. / not needed.

Be interested to see if the NBL act.

I like others have had a soft spot for Cairns but the continual whinging along not having any modesty / accountability has made it hard to back them recently.

Kuol has a lot of good attributes as a defender, he is long and relentless, reads opponent's cutting action well.

But he needs to fix some technical aspects around playing out of his cylinder that used to be let go in the NBL but aren't at the moment. If he fixes that he will again be one of the best defenders in the league IMO.

"I love Cairns But"
What a cop out, does that give you a warm glow inside.
note to myself
I must stop conversing with Idiots, I know the result