Taipans coach Adam Forde has addressed speculation about one of his key players being stood down.

Taran Armstrong will return to the Cairns Taipans lineup for their clash against the New Zealand Breakers, with coach Adam Forde addressing and dismissing speculation about his recent absence. Read the coaches response here

Taran Armstrong will return to the Cairns Taipans lineup for their clash against the New Zealand Breakers, with coach Adam Forde addressing and dismissing speculation about his recent absence.

Armstrong missed the Taipans big wins over Illawarra and Perth with back soreness.

But speculation was starting to build that Armstrong had been stood down by Taipans coach Adam Forde after the 36ers loss.

Forde was quick to squash those rumours.

“No. It’s a ridiculous statement,” Forde said.

Taran Armstrong missed the wins against the Illawarra Hawks and Perth Wildcats due to back soreness. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Adam Forde said ‘it’s a ridiculous statement’ to assume that he would stand players down following the Adelaide 36ers loss. (Photo by James Worsfold/Getty Images)

“It’s a ridiculous statement to assume that, it’s a ridiculous statement to even assume that I would do that, especially when I have backed the individuals all throughout the season.

“To close out the last three weeks, two weeks of the season, no.

“This is what I have always said, I have always been in a position to hold these guys accountable and they’ve responded.

“Taran was ruled out on the weekend because of a bad back, he should be cleared, he got through today, he will start this weekend and finish out the season as our starting point guard.”

Armstrong will be strong inclusion to the Taipans line up with the young captain averaging 16.9 ppg, 4.3 reb and assists.

Forde put his players on notice after the Adelaide 36ers loss at home on Sunday January 19 with the players responding with a big win over ladder leaders Illawarra Hawks.

The side backed it up two days later with a double-overtime win over the then second placed Perth Wildcats in Perth.

Armstrong didn’t travel to Perth which gave young development player Alex Higgins-Titsha more minutes and freedom to step up into a role.

Will we see Adam Forde as Taipans coach next season?

Speculation continues to surround Adam Forde’s future as head coach of the Taipans, as the 43-year-old declined to comment on his plans following Cairns’ win against the Hawks on Thursday night.

Forde signed a two year deal in 2023 which will bring his current contract to end at the conclusion of the 2024/25 season.

The 2023 Coach of the year said he is focused on the final games of the season.

“Not an appropriate time to talk,” Forde said.

“We’re still in the grit of this season, there’s still things and KPIs we want to mark off.

“So its important that we’re locking in now to recover in Perth.”

Adam Forde head coach of the Taipans during the 2024 NBL Blitz match between Cairns Taipans and Perth Wildcats at Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre on September 12, 2024 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Taipans players and coach Adam Forde celebrate the score line in the National Basketball League (NBL) match between the Cairns Taipans and the Adelaide 36ers, held at the Cairns Convention Centre. Picture: Brendan Radke

Forde was head coach at the Sydney Kings for the 2020/21 season before parting ways with the club and announced as head coach of the Taipans in June 2021.

To go along with his head coaching record, Forde was an assistant coach at the Perth Wildcats, was also part of their championships in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019.

In his first year as head coach Forde’s Taipans finished ninth with just nine wins but it was his second year where Forde led his side to 18 wins and a finals berth, losing to eventual winners Sydney Kings in the playoffs.

It has been a tough year for Forde as his side now holds the worst losing streak in the clubs history with 15-games.

But the Taipans have battled injury with four of their starting five out for most of the first half of the season after starting 3-1.

Forde said in December when his side had lost 11 in a row that he wasn’t losing any sleep over his future.

“One of the best pieces of advice that Trevor Gleeson told (me) was ‘if you ever lose your job, you want to do it on your terms’,” Forde said.

“This is a brilliant situation that I’ve had here in Cairns. I’ve got to pick the squad, the staff, we can sit here and talk (about) injuries and illnesses.

“The reality is, this is the model that I wanted to put together. We wanted to go young. We’re not just talking about this season, we’re talking about just in general how you lose players in the off-season to better offers and bigger markets, but that was the route we wanted to go.

“I’ve always had a level of comfort with my standing and Cairns has always been fantastic.

“This is the industry, we are a results driven industry, there’s no one more comfortable about that than me.

“I don’t lose sleep over that.”

The Taipans finish the season off with games against the Wildcats in Perth, the Breakers in New Zealand, Brisbane in Cairns and the JackJumpers in Tasmania.

Originally published as Taipans coach Adam Forde has addressed speculation about one of his key players being stood down.