Taipans coach Forde making no excuses for home defeat

Adam Forde was not in the mood for making excuses for the Cairns Taipans' home loss. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)

Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie was left delighted with his team's response in winning on the road in Cairns but his Taipans counterpart Adam Forde was making no excuses for his team's failure to execute on their home floor in their 90-87 defeat.

The Wildcats arrived in Cairns for Thursday night's match, having lost their past three games and without star big man Keanu Pinder who had entered concussion protocols.

They were coming up against a Taipans team fresh off beating Melbourne United and Tasmania JackJumpers, both of whom Perth had lost to on the same weekend.

The Snakes were also without their import centre Tanner Groves, but the loss of emerging point guard Taran Armstrong proved a dagger blow and despite the final three-point margin, the Wildcats were on top for much of the evening.

Largely, that was down to a trademark Bryce Cotton performance, as the American made seven three-pointers on his way to 35 points.

Kristian Doolittle came up huge too with 19 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

The Wildcats welcomed back point guard Tai Webster (six points in 23 minutes) and import forward Dylan Windler (13 points, three rebounds, three steals), leaving Rillie to suggest: "You saw how important it is for everyone to bring what their strength is to our group.

"Tai pushes the ball, Doolittle's aggressive and assertive, and then that gives Bryce some extra space and freedom to operate in.

"When he gets to that mode, it's tough to stop him so everyone has to play their part so that everyone can be at their best."

Clearly the Taipans weren’t the same smooth-running machine without Armstrong as they were in the wins over Melbourne and Tasmania, but Forde wasn’t interested in excuses as he looks towards their encounter with the Kings in Sydney on Sunday.

"It doesn't matter who's missing," Forde said.

"The job needs to get done with the group we have. It doesn’t matter who's missing. 

"The execution was disappointing by our group and it doesn’t matter who's in or out. 

"We're not here making excuses and we're not doing anything else other than the fact that we dropped this one, and we have to review it with a quick turnaround for Sydney on Sunday."

License this article

What is AAPNews?

For the first time, Australian Associated Press is delivering news straight to the consumer.

No ads. No spin. News straight-up.

Not only do you get to enjoy high-quality news delivered straight to your desktop or device, you do so in the knowledge you are supporting media diversity in Australia.

AAP Is Australia’s only independent newswire service, free from political and commercial influence, producing fact-based public interest journalism across a range of topics including politics, courts, sport, finance and entertainment.

What is AAPNews?
The Morning Wire

Wake up to AAPNews’ morning news bulletin delivered straight to your inbox or mobile device, bringing you up to speed with all that has happened overnight at home and abroad, as well as setting you up what the day has in store.

AAPNews Morning Wire
AAPNews Breaking News
Breaking News

Be the first to know when major breaking news happens.


Notifications will be sent to your device whenever a big story breaks, ensuring you are never in the dark when the talking points happen.

Focused Content

Enjoy the best of AAP’s specialised Topics in Focus. AAP has reporters dedicated to bringing you hard news and feature content across a range of specialised topics including Environment, Agriculture, Future Economies, Arts and Refugee Issues.

AAPNews Focussed Content
Subscription Plans

Choose the plan that best fits your needs. AAPNews offers two basic subscriptions, all billed monthly.

Once you sign up, you will have seven days to test out the service before being billed.

AAPNews Full Access Plan
Full Access
AU$10
  • Enjoy all that AAPNews has to offer
  • Access to breaking news notifications and bulletins
  • Includes access to all AAPNews’ specialised topics
Join Now
AAPNews Student Access Plan
Student Access
AU$5
  • Gain access via a verified student email account
  • Enjoy all the benefits of the ‘Full Access’ plan at a reduced rate
  • Subscription renews each month
Join Now
AAPNews Annual Access Plan
Annual Access
AU$99
  • All the benefits of the 'Full Access' subscription at a discounted rate
  • Subscription automatically renews after 12 months
Join Now

AAPNews also offers enterprise deals for businesses so you can provide an AAPNews account for your team, organisation or customers. Click here to contact AAP to sign-up your business today.

SEVEN DAYS FREE
Download the app
Download AAPNews on the App StoreDownload AAPNews on the Google Play Store