Taipans have the wood on United and just beat them in Melb a few weeks ago. I wouldn't write them off no matter how many they have out.

Cairns nearly running an nbl1 team. Gazey is right, to many threes from taipans. 23-12@1/4

The flapper and the flexor battle it out for biggest dickhead in NBL.

Flopper

At least the flopper backs it up on the floor, the flexer not so much.

Edward's fouled out with over nine minutes left. Cairns in big trouble unless they get some bodies back and even then it’s looking like a long season.

Game doesn't mean a whole lot with the taipans injuries but Cameron balled out

Not a great advertisement for expansion

Taipans missing 3 starters and a 4th didn't come to play. About the result you'd expect in those circumstances

Jack White mounting a sneaky case for All-NBL 1st selection

56 point turnaround from the game in Melbourne on October 6. I don't think that can be attribuited to the absences of Armstrong & Bradshaw this time.

Hopefully Forde kicks a few heads an embarrassing performance by Cairns.

Realise Cairns had 3 of their starting line up out but damn that was impressive from Melbourne United.

Jack White is a damn good basketballer, tough and smart.

Flynn Cameron is developing, and these games give him a chance to do so - his upside is huge.

MU the form team of the comp - Delly, CG, Lee, Clark, Cameron, Loe, Krebs, Illi damn good line up wiht Illi to come back in and development of Cameron and Krebs.

This game shows the budget difference between Cairns and the rest of the league when Cairns get injuries to major guys they can't really cover them or bring anyone in midseason.

United very deep, maybe the deepest team in the league, well organised and they could Bradshaw it this year

Right now Sydney is missing Adams and isn't what people thought. Illawarra started well but Trey Kell a huge out. Perth missing Cotton, questions over Defense, and the consistency of 2nd options with Pinder hot and cold

United lies in waiting, I don't think their ceiling will be as high as some other teams, but they'll consistently play high level defense and team basketball. So if those others don't quite rise to the expected level, United will be ready

Fair point re budget comparison of teams etc Basket 91

@LV do you mean "Bradbury"?

I'm not sure what it means to "Bradshaw" something.

That's the one!

Yes Dunkman, I'd rather the flopper.

Excellent coaching from Vickerman, constant hard-shows on the three ball for Cairns which was the main factor last game. Very physical on Edward's, no easy transition and constantly disrupted their sets. Certainly helped with Armstrong out. Cameron is showing his skills, looked elite today.

Some of the above posts re 1 comment about expansion and a few regarding finances.

"Not a great advertisement for expansion"
How about the expansion is for Cairns and Townsville to do a Breakers and Jackjumpers (both have 3 home-courts) by representing FNQ instead of 1 city.

That ought to fix the finances too!
"This game shows the budget difference between Cairns and the rest of the league when Cairns get injuries to major guys, they can't really cover them or bring anyone in midseason."
"Fair point re budget comparison of teams etc Basket 91"

Imagine Forde building a team with a decent budget at his disposal. Even if he recruited the same way and expense he would at least be able to keep his team intact with money to deal with.

Just a thought! Not well thought out, I know, but there it is!

Is Cairn budget that much smaller than some other clubs though. Brisbane, Breakers don't look like they spent more than their minimum requirement.

Cairns had the lowest roster spend in the league last season. They didn't marquee Kuol and still only finished $6k above the salary cap floor.

Cairns spent about 2/3 - 3/4 what the next lowest team did last season.

Quite remarkable that they are competitive with what they do. Smaller market team but stable and fans that will turn up win or lose.

If cairns cared about budget, wouldn't they look after their sponsors and put a media wall up behind their press conferences? Just a poorly run club IMO

Cairns have looked pretty good with most of their team on the park, just going through a tough stretch at the moment. Coughing up a big lead to a middle-of-the-road team on Friday definitely hurt! Hold on there and they would have been 4-5 despite their injury woes. Massive game v Brisbane this week now.

Unfortunate they coughed up the lead Friday, but given their injury issues they're one of the stories of the season for mine.

They've shown every indication they'll be fighting for top 6 berth, maybe even top 4, if they can get a sustained run with everyone on the floor.

It's just a small margin for error for teams like Cairns and this season the JJs. Top 5 players can compete, but there's a big divide between Adnam playing big minutes. And losing McVeigh has been a big hole in Tassie, maybe they were expecting him back and didn't plan ahead.
Kings are stacked, but Brian is just cooked. Guys might be impressing and vice versa annoying him at training, but come game time it's really showing his subs are just strange and losing to teams they shouldn't be. Most of his bench would be key contributors in other programs, there's obviously a big problem going on with Oliver.
And pros and cons for a FNQ team, but in the end they need a base and would Townsville fans get behind a Cairns based team? Good for a game or 2, but would there be any loyalty?