NBL21: Jarrod Kenny to return to the Cairns Taipans
Fan favourite and two-time NBL championship winner Jarrod Kenny has signed a one-year deal to return to the Cairns Taipans for NBL21.
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TWO-time NBL champion and much-loved cult figure Jarrod Kenny is returning to the Cairns Taipans for a fourth season.
The club announced the deal on Saturday morning.
It will be the 35-year-old point guard’s fourth straight year in the Far North, the New Zealander well and truly establishing a home away from home in Cairns.
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Kenny has spent the months since the end of the 2020/21 NBL season in the NZNBL playing for Hawkes Bay Hawks, who were dealt a narrow 75-77 loss by Saints in the grand final on Friday night.
It was, remarkably, his 20th season in the NZNBL, a championship he won at the Otago Nuggets in 2020.
His return to FNQ is a reunion of sorts with new Taipans coach Adam Forde, who was an assistant at Perth Wildcats when Kenny won his two NBL championships.
Forde was also an interim coach at Hawke’s Bay.
Kenny’s retention as the primary back-up point guard to import Scott Machado is more than just what he can do on the court, with Forde flagging his leadership, experience, and off-court attributes in the announcement.
“My relationship with JK goes well beyond basketball, we have obviously spent time together in Perth and recently in Hawke’s Bay, but it was important for me to get him re-signed for a number of other reasons,” said Coach Forde.
“Aside from the fact there was a smaller sample size from reduction in production on court last season, statistically he proved that he is above league average when spacing the floor as a three-point shooter.
“As a back-up point to Scott Machado, it’s important that position is filled by someone with experience, accepting of the role and isn’t an offensive liability.
“Even in the NZNBL this off-season, he was shooting 50 per cent from three.”
“You add that to the intangible traits he brings as a spiritual leader and role model on the team, it seemed like a no-brainer to me that he was ahead of the pack in terms of available back-up point guards during this free agency.”
Kenny joins Machado, Cameron Oliver, Nathan Jawai, Majok Deng, Mirko Djeric, Kouat Noi, Jordan Ngatai and Keanu Pinder on the Taipans’ 2021-22 roster, with one import and one local yet to be signed.
matthew.mcinerney1@news.com.au
Originally published as NBL21: Jarrod Kenny to return to the Cairns Taipans
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