2024–25 Cairns Taipans season

2024–25 Cairns Taipans season
Head coach	Adam Forde
Captain	Taran Armstrong
Arena	Cairns Convention Centre
NBL results
Record	4–16 (20%)
Ladder	10th
Finals finish	TBD
Stats at NBL.com.au
All statistics correct as of 3 January 2025.

The 2024–25 Cairns Taipans season is the 26th season of the franchise in the National Basketball League (NBL).

Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Cairns Taipans roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. G 1 Armstrong, Taran (C) 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 88 kg (194 lb) G 2 Edwards, Rob (I) 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 93 kg (205 lb) F 3 Stith, Dillon 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 98 kg (216 lb) G 4 Adnam, Kyle 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 84 kg (185 lb) G 5 Dufelmeier, Tad (NRP) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 79 kg (174 lb) G 6 Antonio, Jonah 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 88 kg (194 lb) G 9 Makoi, Jackson 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 89 kg (196 lb) F 11 Higgins-Titsha, Alex (DP) 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) F 13 Gak, Akoldah  2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 102 kg (225 lb) F 14 Galloway, Kyrin 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 98 kg (216 lb) G 20 Stattmann, Kody (DP) 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 91 kg (201 lb) F 21 Waardenburg, Sam 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 100 kg (220 lb) F/C 22 Groves, Tanner (I) 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 109 kg (240 lb) G 23 Taylor, Deshon (IN) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 84 kg (185 lb) G/F 32 Bradshaw, Pedro (I) 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 82 kg (181 lb)	Head coach Adam Forde Assistant coach(es) Will Lopez Kerry Williams Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (IN) Inactive (I) Import player (TP) Training player (SRP) Special restricted player (NS) Next Star player Injured Roster Updated: 26 December 2024

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
PG	Taran Armstrong	Kyle Adnam	Jackson Makoi
SG	Rob Edwards	Jonah Antonio	Kody Stattmann
SF	Pedro Bradshaw	Dillon Stith	Alex Higgins-Titsha
PF	Sam Waardenburg	Kyrin Galloway
C	Tanner Groves	Akoldah Gak

Standings

Ladder

Pos	2024–25 NBL season
	Team	Pld	W	L	PCT	Last 5	Streak	Home	Away	PF	PA	PP
1	Illawarra Hawks	20	13	7	65.00%	3–2	L2	5–4	8–3	2031	1853	109.61%
2	Melbourne United	22	13	9	59.09%	1–4	L1	7–6	6–3	2084	1992	104.62%
3	Sydney Kings	22	13	9	59.09%	3–2	W2	5–4	8–5	1992	1907	104.46%
4	Perth Wildcats	21	12	9	57.14%	4–1	W2	7–3	5–6	2051	2026	101.23%
5	Tasmania JackJumpers	20	11	9	55.00%	4–1	L1	7–3	4–6	1682	1688	99.64%
6	S.E. Melbourne Phoenix	21	11	10	52.38%	4–1	W1	6–3	5–7	1962	1894	103.59%
7	Brisbane Bullets	20	9	11	45.00%	2–3	L3	5–5	4–6	1896	1924	98.54%
8	Adelaide 36ers	20	9	11	45.00%	2–3	W2	7–5	2–6	1849	1936	95.51%
9	New Zealand Breakers	20	8	12	40.00%	1–4	L1	4–6	4–6	1702	1816	93.72%
10	Cairns Taipans	20	4	16	20.00%	1–4	W1	2–9	2–7	1686	1899	88.78%

Updated to match(es) played on 5 January 2025. Source: NBL.com.au

The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win–loss record, the overall points percentage will determine order of seeding.

Ladder progression

	Leader and qualification to semifinals
	Qualification to semifinals
	Qualification to play-in
	Last place

2024–25 NBL season

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Adelaide 36ers	8	8	6	5	5	4	4	4	4	6	9	8	8	8
Brisbane Bullets	6	10	9	9	7	8	7	8	7	9	8	7	5	7
Cairns Taipans	10	7	4	6	6	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Illawarra Hawks	1	1	2	2	1	1	2	3	3	2	2	1	1	1
Melbourne United	2	3	5	3	4	2	3	1	1	1	1	2	2	2
New Zealand Breakers	5	2	1	1	2	3	1	2	2	3	5	9	9	9
Perth Wildcats	4	5	8	7	8	6	6	6	6	5	4	4	6	5
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix	7	9	10	10	10	10	8	7	8	7	6	6	7	6
Sydney Kings	3	4	3	4	3	5	5	5	5	4	3	3	3	4
Tasmania JackJumpers	9	6	7	8	9	7	9	9	9	8	7	5	4	3

Updated to match(es) played on 31 December 2024. Source: NBL.com.au

Game log

Pre-season

Main article: 2024 NBL pre-season

2023 NBL Blitz game log Total: 0–4 (Home: 0–2; Road: 0–2)

September: 0–4 (Home: 0–2; Road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 7 September @ Melbourne L 94–87 Rob Edwards (24) three players (8) Pedro Bradshaw (4) Carrara Indoor Stadium n/a 0–1 2 9 September Sydney L 77–99 Tanner Groves (15) Tanner Groves (11) Jackson Makoi (6) Gold Coast Sports Centre n/a 0–2 3 12 September Perth L 76–89 Rob Edwards (16) Tanner Groves (9) Pedro Bradshaw (4) Gold Coast Sports Centre n/a 0–3 4 14 September @ Brisbane L 85–82 Antonio, Stith (16) Akoldah Gak (7) Tad Dufelmeier (5) Gold Coast Sports Centre n/a 0–4

Regular season

Main article: 2024–25 NBL regular season

2024–25 game log Total: 4–16 (Home: 2–9; Road: 2–7)
September: 1–1 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 21 September Illawarra L 75–102 Tanner Groves (17) Bradshaw, Groves (7) Tad Dufelmeier (3) Perth Superdrome 2,878 0–1 2 28 September Adelaide W 101–97 Rob Edwards (31) Sam Waardenburg (11) Kyle Adnam (5) Cairns Convention Centre 4,141 1–1
October: 2–5 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 3 4 October Tasmania W 90–78 Taran Armstrong (20) Sam Waardenburg (7) Armstrong, Edwards (5) Cairns Convention Centre 4,538 2–1 4 6 October @ Melbourne W 88–101 Rob Edwards (23) Pedro Bradshaw (9) three players (4) John Cain Arena 9,766 3–1 5 10 October Perth L 87–90 Rob Edwards (24) Akoldah Gak (10) Sam Waardenburg (7) Cairns Convention Centre 3,750 3–2 6 13 October @ Sydney L 99–73 Sam Waardenburg (22) Sam Waardenburg (9) Kyle Adnam (5) Sydney SuperDome 11,076 3–3 7 19 October Illawarra L 75–87 Pedro Bradshaw (18) Pedro Bradshaw (14) Adnam, Waardenburg (4) Cairns Convention Centre 4,362 3–4 8 25 October @ Adelaide L 99–93 (OT) Rob Edwards (27) Sam Waardenburg (14) Jackson Makoi (6) Adelaide Entertainment Centre 9,382 3–5 9 27 October @ Melbourne L 106–63 Antonio, Waardenburg (11) Antonio, Higgins-Titsha (8) Sam Waardenburg (4) John Cain Arena 9,210 3–6
November: 0–4 (Home: 0–3; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 10 2 November Brisbane L 88–92 Rob Edwards (27) Alex Higgins-Titsha (11) Galloway, Makoi (4) Cairns Convention Centre 4,445 3–7 11 10 November @ S.E. Melbourne L 97–74 Sam Waardenburg (16) Armstrong, Gak (7) Jackson Makoi (7) John Cain Arena 6,384 3–8 12 16 November New Zealand L 69–77 Rob Edwards (33) Akoldah Gak (8) Taran Armstrong (7) Cairns Convention Centre 4,767 3–9 13 29 November Sydney L 75–81 Taran Armstrong (28) Sam Waardenburg (10) Edwards, Waardenburg (2) Cairns Convention Centre 3,899 3–10
December: 0–6 (Home: 0–3; Road: 0–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 14 5 December @ Tasmania L 99–90 Taran Armstrong (29) Sam Waardenburg (7) Sam Waardenburg (6) Derwent Entertainment Centre 4,340 3–11 15 7 December @ S.E. Melbourne L 99–94 Rob Edwards (24) Pedro Bradshaw (10) Sam Waardenburg (5) John Cain Arena 5,103 3–12 16 14 December Perth L 92–128 Taran Armstrong (24) Rob Edwards (6) Taran Armstrong (8) Cairns Convention Centre 4,386 3–13 17 20 December @ Brisbane L 107–104 Rob Edwards (27) Tanner Groves (10) Taran Armstrong (5) Brisbane Entertainment Centre 4,599 3–14 18 26 December Melbourne L 66–76 Tanner Groves (20) Groves, Waardenburg (6) Armstrong, Groves (4) Cairns Convention Centre 4,428 3–15 19 31 December New Zealand L 68–92 Tanner Groves (21) Tanner Groves (8) Taran Armstrong (5) Cairns Convention Centre 4,870 3–16
January: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 20 3 January @ Illawarra W 105–108 Armstrong, Edwards (28) Bradshaw, Groves (9) three players (3) Wollongong Entertainment Centre 5,087 4–16 21 12 January @ Sydney 0–0 Sydney SuperDome – 22 14 January S.E. Melbourne 0–0 Cairns Convention Centre – 23 17 January @ Brisbane 0–0 Brisbane Entertainment Centre – 24 19 January Adelaide 0–0 Cairns Convention Centre – 25 23 January Illawarra 0–0 Cairns Convention Centre – 26 25 January @ Perth 0–0 Perth Arena –
February: 0–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 27 1 February @ New Zealand 0–0 Spark Arena – 28 6 February Brisbane 0–0 Cairns Convention Centre – 29 8 February @ Tasmania 0–0 Derwent Entertainment Centre –
2024–25 season schedule

Transactions

Re-signed

Player	Date Signed	Contract	Ref.
Sam Waardenburg	11 April 2024	1-year deal
Jonah Antonio	3 May 2024	1-year deal

Additions

Player	Date Signed	Contract	Former team	Ref.
Jackson Makoi	22 April 2024	1-year deal	Sydney Kings
Kyrin Galloway	29 April 2024	2-year deal	Adelaide 36ers
Tanner Groves	7 May 2024	1-year deal	SC Rasta Vechta
Rob Edwards	24 May 2024	1-year deal	Delaware Blue Coats
Dillon Stith	2 July 2024	2-year (club option)	Casey Cavaliers
Alex Higgins-Titsha	11 July 2024	2-year deal (club option)	Inner West Bulls
Kody Stattmann	11 July 2024	1-year deal	S.E. Melbourne Phoenix
Pedro Bradshaw	30 July 2024	1-year deal	Indiana Mad Ants
Kyle Adnam	7 August 2024	2-year deal (club option)	Illawarra Hawks
Tad Dufelmeier	11 September 2024	1-year deal (NRP)	Dandenong Rangers
Deshon Taylor	30 October 2024	1-year deal (NRP)	Hapoel Haifa

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	Date Left	New Team	Ref.
Tahjere McCall	Parted ways	25 February 2024	Hapoel Holon
Patrick Miller	Free agent	12 March 2024	Lokomotiv Kuban
Lat Mayen	Free agent	16 April 2024	Adelaide 36ers
Bul Kuol	Free agent	30 April 2024	Sydney Kings
Bobi Klintman	NBA draft	26 June 2024	Detroit Pistons
Josh Roberts	Free agent	17 August 2024	Aris B.C.

Awards

Club awards

• Club MVP:
• Defensive Player:
• Players’ Player:
• Commitment to Community:
• Members’ Choice MVP:
• Coaches Award:

See also

• 2024–25 NBL season

External links

• Official Website