Kenny trying to restore that winning feeling
JORDAN GERRANS BACK-UP point guard Jarrod Kenny is not used to this much losing on Australian soil.
A member of the Perth Wildcats between 2015 and 2018, the 33-year-old Kiwi has done a lot of winning in his short career in Australia, after being a leading guard in the New Zealand NBL for well over a decade.
Now a Cairns Taipan, losing 10 straight games is an unfamiliar feeling for the guard as he could hardly hide his frustration and disappointment following the loss to Perth last Sunday.
The two-time NBL champion instigated the talk around a lack of energy and effort following the loss to the Wildcats and believes those factors have improved in the training sessions since.
“This week has been fo- cused on turning up every day and taking care of the little things, and making sure that is not an issue,” Kenny said on Thursday afternoon.
“And, then we can build from there.
“But, if we do not have (energy and effort) as our baseline, then it is going to be pretty tough.
“I have seen an improvement since Sunday, and the boys have been more focused to make sure it is there.” Alex Loughton and Lucas Walker hold the official leadership titles for the 1-10 Snakes but the experienced guard says he has been more assertive this week to try to snap their losing sequence against the club he trained with for multiple seasons, the Breakers.
“Not so much pushed, but I have tried to make an effort to bring the energy and get the noise up and try to make a bit more excitement than usual,” Kenny said.
“I am just trying to do what I can and hopefully it is enough to get the boys up for the week and get us across the line.”
Cairns have lost their past six home games, five this season and the last one last year, with the Taipans’ last home victory coming against Sunday’s opponents New Zealand in Round 15 of last season with a 81-71 win.