Taipans re-sign award winning duo Bul Kuol, Keanu Pinder
NBL Rookie of the Year Bul Kuol is committed to developing into an even greater threat when he returns to Cairns and the Taipans. WHY KUOL RE-SIGNED >>
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NBL Rookie of the Year Bul Kuol is committed to developing into an even greater threat when he returns to Cairns and the Taipans.
Kuol and fellow NBL award winner Keanu Pinder were on Monday announced to have taken their mutual option to stay with the Snakes under second-year Taipans Adam Forde for NBL23.
They were two of the most talked-about players in the NBL, especially in the run to the finals despite the Taipans being no chance of making the post-season.
Kuol started the season as the last Cairns signing, with the real prospect of going through several games without any courttime.
He ended up earning a starting spot in an injury-riddled Snakes outfit, which led to a team-high 26 starts and the team’s second-most minutes played over the season.
Then, he broke Shane Heal’s longstanding record for most threes by a rookie and finished the season with 64, which included the unforgettable eight from 10 shots in against the Bullets.
A relative unknown scouted by Forde and plucked out of the American college system, with a stint in NBL1 with Knox Raiders in between, Kuol is very well aware that next season will be different.
“Last year, nobody really knew about me,” Kuol said.
“I was coming out of college, had no idea what would happen so Fordey was keeping an eye on me through my college career, he’s a numbers guy and saw I was shooting well from the three.
“He had no idea who I was. I’d never met Fordey before so before I came to Cairns so I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.”
Forde further developed his reputation as a player’s coach, one who isn’t afraid to show his emotion (despite the cost, at times) and is “brutally honest” with his players.
And he is the key reason why Kuol wanted to stay.
“He’s very honest, genuine, easy to get along with, a player’s coach,” Kuol said.
“I didn’t want to make that adjustment going somewhere else. I wanted to be part of Cairns Taipans because Fordey here, it was a very easy decision.”
With a history-making rookie season in the NBL now in the past, Kuol, who spoke to media from Canberra, said he intends to use the next three months improving his game to come back an even better threat for the Snakes now he has his hands on game film and time to review.
The confident Kuol believes he will be a better shooter than the man the Orange Army adopted throughout NBL22, but he isn’t putting a figure on his three-point target.
“I think I’ll shoot better next year,” he said.
“I’m very confident I’ll shoot a lot better, who knows the number I get.
“Just having that experience now, I’ve got three months to work with, and now I can go and work on the things I need to work on.
“The scouting report kept changing, you had guys chasing me off the line, dudes running at me full speed.
“Now I have the film, I can work on that. I have three months to get better. Who knows? You can’t put a number on it, but I’m excited to see what the outcome is.”
Pinder was named the NBL’s Most Improved Player thanks to a breakout campaign under Forde, his former WA U20 Nationals, State Basketball League and juniors coach.
The West Australian forward also played as a centre for Cairns, with Forde backing the 26-year-old to successfully pursues national honours.
He doubled his offensive output from 4.8 points to 10.8pts per game, improved his rebounding from 4.3 per game to 7.5, and set career highs in shooting, rebounds, and assists.
Kuol and Pinder join Mirko Djeric and Majok Deng as Taipans locked in for next season. NBL free agency opens Friday.
matthew.mcinerney1@news.com.au
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