NBL Icon Andrew Gaze weighs in on Taipans’ NBL25: Injury woes, cohesion struggles and the future of Kody Stattmann
As the Cairns Taipans face a challenging season in NBL25, Australian basketball icon Andrew Gaze has weighed in on the team’s struggles, offering a mix of insight and optimism.
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As the Cairns Taipans face a challenging season in NBL25, Australian basketball icon Andrew Gaze has weighed in on the team’s struggles, offering a mix of insight and optimism.
The seven-time NBL MVP and 1999 NBA champion shared his perspective on the difficulties the Taipans have encountered, particularly focusing on the injury woes, the challenge of maintaining team cohesion and the ongoing battle to retain talent in a smaller market.
Injury Woes
The Taipans’ season has been heavily impacted by injuries, which have compounded the challenges faced by the club.
“There’s always context to a tough season,” Gaze told the Cairns Post.
“Early on in the season, they unfortunately, like a lot of teams, had some significant injury issues they had to deal with. The reality is they don’t have the same depth. A depleted list is more exaggerated with a team like Cairns than it would be for other teams in the NBL.”
Taipans import duo Tanner Groves and Pedro Bradshaw missed significant time in the early stages of the season, while point guard Taran Armstrong also struggled to find time on the floor.
While the return of key players has shown some positive signs, Gaze noted that disruptions in the line-up take time to adjust to.
“Sometimes when you have disruptions to your season, it does take time to gel and get on the same page,” he said.
“Roles change while players are out. It takes time to figure out. Putting that into context to where they are currently this season. It’s a difficult set of circumstances, but there’s been positive signs since they got some of their players back.”
Gaze said the lack of cohesion during the season, as well as season by season in regards to player retention has proven to be a critical factor for the Taipans, especially as their playoff hopes were dashed early.
Cohesion and Talent Retention: A Constant Struggle
The seven-time NBL MVP said the competition in a smaller market makes it difficult to retain top-tier talent when bigger clubs come calling.
“The reality of the circumstances that they face, (the Taipans) acknowledge that they don’t have the same resources as other teams,” Gaze said.
“I think they do a good job of identifying and cultivating talent, (Taipans head coach Adam Forde) does a great job finding players in the first place. But once they’ve been in Cairns and demonstrated their level of skill. Their ability to hang on to them has more to do with what the better resourced teams are prepared to pay, which makes their circumstances very difficult.”
Despite these challenges, Taipans head coach Adam Forde has been praised for his ability to find overlooked prospects and diamonds in the rough during his tenure so far.
“I think he’s done a really good job given the circumstances he’s had to deal with,” he said.
“It would be unfair to allocate all the responsibility for the wins and losses this year purely on the shoulders of the head coach.”
The Case for Kody
One of the more perplexing aspects of the Taipans’ season has been the lack of opportunities for Cairns-born Kody Stattmann.
The versatile scorer had a promising off-season with the Cairns Marlins, where he averaged 27.5 points (third highest in the league) on 46 per cent FG and six rebounds.
One of few players contracted for NBL26, the 24-year-old has been limited to just one appearance in NBL25, playing 22 minutes in a blowout loss to Melbourne United.
Gaze offered his thoughts on Stattmann’s situation, acknowledging the player’s skill set but questioning the lack of meaningful playing time.
“I’ve seen Kody over the last few seasons since he’s been in the NBL and in fairness, it’s been limited opportunities,” Gaze said.
“Whether it was Phoenix or the Bullets, when you’ve been through different programs and you’re not getting the opportunity. You can be that type of player that has a very good skill level, but finding the right system and the right fit is the challenge. It’s hard to comment on and assess how he’s doing at the Taipans because he’s played no meaningful minutes.”
The 1999 NBA champion elaborated on Stattmann’s potential, noting his impressive background, including his time at Virginia in the ACC.
One of the most prestigious college basketball programs in the United States that has seen Malcolm Brogdon, De’Andre Hunter and Joe Harris emerge from the program to the NBA in recent history.
“He went to a really high profile program in the United States,” he said.
“Anytime you’re playing in a school that’s in the ACC at Virginia, you’re playing at a very high level of basketball. He received some incredible coaching.”
Despite these setbacks, Gaze believes that Stattmann’s future in the NBL could still be bright if given the right opportunity.
“We’ve seen enough to know there is a skill level there that coaches and programs are prepared to give him an opportunity (in the past),” he said.
“For whatever reason, it hasn’t worked out in the NBL. He’s got great size and he’s a solid athlete, he can shoot the ball and at (NBL1) level can put up some huge numbers.
This season will test his resilience, but hopefully he sticks at it. I’ve certainly seen a skill set there that you’d think is worth cultivating. If you get (Stattmann) in the right system, he’ll be able to have a more meaningful impact on the program.”
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