SHOOTING FOR STARS

Taipans eye off pre-season clash with NBA club

THE Cairns Taipans have put their hand up to debut in the NBL-NBA pre-season series later this year after being snubbed since the games were first introduced.

The Snakes, Illawarra Hawks and newest NBL franchise, South East Melbourne Phoenix, are the only three clubs yet to feature against NBA opposition, with bigger market clubs having the opportunity on several occasions.

Cairns were poised and ready to join in on the games in the lead-up to this season, before the NBL were unable to secure enough fixtures against NBA opposition.

On the back of the Snakes’ sharp rise up the ladder in season 2019-20, Taipans president Troy Stone confirmed the community-owned club would “love” to play in front of an international audience later in 2020.

Cairns, led by imports Scott Machado, DJ Newbill and Cameron Oliver, as well as rookie Kouat Noi, are now a much more attractive squad for the NBL’s hierarchy to send to USA compared to the team that claimed a wooden spoon a season ago.

It remains to be seen if Oliver, Machado and Noi would be on the Snakes’ team leading into next season, as they all have NBA dreams of their own and have never shied away from that.

The NBL have sent teams to America before and during each of the last three seasons to take on the best in the world. It was reported in Friday’s

Daily Telegraph that the highflying Cairns Taipans are set to be rewarded for their stellar season with an invite to play in the annual NBL versus NBA pre-season series.

An NBL official yesterday morning said decisions around which teams would participate in the pre-season games were yet to be resolved, with the number of actual games to be played also up in the air right now.

Cairns hosts the Adelaide 36ers this evening as they look to secure their position in the NBL playoffs.