Taipans coach Adam Forde warns of job losses following NBL26 opener
At least five Taipans “fell well short” of coach Adam Forde’s expectations, as he warned of job losses during a finger-pointing session ahead of preparations for their first home game.
Cairns Taipans coach Adam Forde is hoping a profanity-laden dressing down of his charges will spark an improved performance this Friday night against Brisbane after a lacklustre road loss at the weekend.
But Forde said he wouldn’t be “overcorrecting” for this week’s home opener against the Bullets, despite issuing a dour warning to his underperforming players.
Speaking prior to Monday’s training session at the Cairns Convention Centre, Forde promised fans that accountability would be a major focus of the week, following a 37-point drubbing to South East Melbourne Phoenix on Saturday.
About five minutes into a match simulation, and after a series of rapid-fire expletives, a fired-up Forde stared down his squad, imploring them to pick up their defence.
“You should know where to be,” Forde said on court while pointing into the faces of out-of-position defenders.
“It shouldn’t be coming from Jack (McVeigh), it shouldn’t be coming from me. You should know.”
Forde said a “brutally honest” analysis of the Snakes at Melbourne’s John Cain Arena was that five players fell well short of their job description, while “three guys played to their potential”.
The Snakes’ Reyne Smith tallied a game-high 19 points, but it was Cairns’ 19 turnovers to Melbourne’s six that exposed the visitors, going down 114-77.
“The turnovers – there were steps in play where we knew South East were going to get up pressure so we had a contingency plan in place,” the Taipans’ mentor said.
“But when one guy doesn’t run his route it mucks up the whole system and that falls on me.
“It’s not necessarily that one guy – I assume he knows where he needs to be, and if he doesn’t that means the head coach has to fix that.
“If a plumber, a chef, a labourer don’t do their job, they’re going to lose their job and that’s what these guys sometimes have to realise.”
Following a disruptive pre-season, including talks of the club being sold, injury to MVP Sam Waardenburg and import Ashton Hagans’ surprise release, Forde conceded the club could have prepared better.
“In terms of the plan and preparation, maybe we underestimated some things which we should have put a little bit more attention to detail,” he said.
“It shows the flaws that I’ve done to get this team where I thought they were, which is what we’re not.”
Question marks still remained over when new import Andrew Andrews would line up for the Orange Army with Taipans guard Kyle Adnam “excited” to welcome the 32-year-old “soon.”
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Originally published as Taipans coach Adam Forde warns of job losses following NBL26 opener
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