# Cairns Taipans

The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Convention Centre, known colloquially as "The Snakepit".

## History
### Early years (1999–2008)

The Taipans were founded in 1999, entering the National Basketball League (NBL) for the 1999–2000 NBL season. Led by head coach Rod Popp, the Taipans' debut season ended with a 2–26 record. The Taipans failed to qualify for the post-season in their first four seasons. In the 2003–04 NBL season, the Taipans defeated the Perth Wildcats 103–96 in an elimination final at the Cairns Convention Centre. In winning their first final, the Taipans moved on to the quarter-finals, where they were defeated 110–88 by the West Sydney Razorbacks. After missing the finals in 2004–05, the Taipans made three straight finals appearances between 2005–06 and 2007–08.

### Financial difficulties (2008–2009)

In December 2008, the Taipans were placed into voluntary administration. As a result, coach Alan Black was sacked and imports Larry Abney and Dave Thomas were let go. The rest of the team had to agree to a blanket 45 per cent pay cut for the rest of the season. Less than 12 months later, the Taipans were again in financial trouble – at the time, the club was almost $350,000 over budget and had only recorded a profit in one of the previous four months. In response, Basketball Australia and Cairns Regional Council vowed to continue supporting the cash-strapped Taipans.

### NBL Grand Finalists (2011; 2015)

The 2010–11 NBL season saw the Taipans reach their first NBL Grand Final series behind star trio Ron Dorsey, Ayinde Ubaka and Daniel Dillon. They faced the New Zealand Breakers and lost game one 85–67. In game two, they tied the series with an 85–81 double-overtime win. It marked the first time in NBL history a play-off match was decided in double overtime. After Breakers guard C. J. Bruton hit a three-pointer in the dying seconds of regulation to send the match into overtime, Dorsey responded with a three-pointer at the buzzer at the end of the first overtime to force the match into double overtime. With momentum on their side, the Taipans were able to finish out the match on top. The Breakers went on to win 71–53 in game three after import pair Ubaka and Dorsey shot 4-of-26 between them, as the Taipans finished the season as runners-up. Following the season, Dorsey, Ubaka and Dillon all left Cairns to join the Melbourne Tigers, each departing the Taipans after just one season.
The 2014–15 NBL season saw the Taipans clinch their first ever NBL minor premiership. They finished the regular season in first place with a 21–7 record, becoming the first regional team to finish on top of the ladder since the Geelong Supercats in 1984. The Taipans also made history by using the same starting five of Scottie Wilbekin (Point guard), Cameron Gliddon (Shooting guard), Stephen Weigh (Small forward), Alex Loughton (Power forward) and Matt Burston (Centre) all season. They went on to reach their second NBL Grand Final series, where they once again faced the New Zealand Breakers. Despite having home court advantage, the Taipans were defeated 86–71 in game one and 83–81 in game two. Breakers forward Ekene Ibekwe hit a game-winning fade-away shot in game two to clinch the series.

## Honour roll

| NBL championships: | 0 |
| Regular-season champions: | 1 (2015) |
| NBL finals appearances: | 9 (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2023) |
| NBL Grand Final appearances: | 2 (2011, 2015) |
| All-NBL First Team: | Chris Burgess (2005), Martin Cattalini (2007), Scottie Wilbekin (2015), Scott Machado (2020) |
| All-NBL Second Team: | Nathan Jawai (2008), Jamar Wilson (2012), Melo Trimble (2019), D. J. Newbill (2020), Cameron Oliver (2020), D. J. Hogg (2023), Keanu Pinder (2023) |
| All-NBL Third Team: | Ben Knight (2001), Chris Burgess (2006), Martin Cattalini (2006), Darnell Mee (2006), Alex Loughton (2011), Ayinde Ubaka (2011), Jamar Wilson (2013) |
| NBL Rookie of the Year: | Nathan Jawai (2008), Cameron Gliddon (2013), Bul Kuol (2022) |
| NBL Most Improved Player: | Gary Boodnikoff (2006), Keanu Pinder (2022, 2023) |
| NBL Coach of the Year: | Aaron Fearne (2015), Mike Kelly (2020), Adam Forde (2023) |
| NBL Best Sixth Man: | Cameron Tragardh (2015) |
| NBL Best Defensive Player: | Darnell Mee (2006), D. J. Newbill (2020) |
| NBL Next Generation Award: | Sam Waardenburg (2023) |

## Season by season

| NBL champions | League champions | Runners-up | Finals berth |
| Season | Tier | League | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Post-season | Head coach | Captain | Club MVP |
| Season | Tier | League | Finish | Played | Wins | Losses | Win % | Post-season | Head coach | Captain | Club MVP |
| Cairns Taipans ||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | 1 | NBL | 11th | 28 | 2 | 26 | .071 | Did not qualify | Rod Popp | Terry Johnson | not awarded |
| 2000–01 | 1 | NBL | 9th | 28 | 6 | 22 | .214 | Did not qualify | Rod Popp | Anthony Stewart | Ben Knight Aaron Trahair |
| 2001–02 | 1 | NBL | 11th | 30 | 9 | 21 | .300 | Did not qualify | Guy Molloy | Anthony Stewart | Jayson Wells |
| 2002–03 | 1 | NBL | 8th | 30 | 13 | 17 | .433 | Did not qualify | Guy Molloy | Brad Davidson Jayson Wells | Ben Knight Anthony Stewart |
| 2003–04 | 1 | NBL | 6th | 33 | 16 | 17 | .485 | Won elimination final (Perth) 103–96 Lost quarterfinal (West Sydney) 88–110 | Guy Molloy | Brad Davidson | Marcus Timmons |
| 2004–05 | 1 | NBL | 10th | 32 | 11 | 21 | .344 | Did not qualify | Guy Molloy | Anthony Stewart | Chris Burgess |
| 2005–06 | 1 | NBL | 5th | 32 | 18 | 14 | .563 | Won elimination final (Hunter) 88–80 Won quarterfinal (Adelaide) 106–103 Lost semifinals (Sydney) 0–2 | Alan Black | Anthony Stewart Darnell Mee | Martin Cattalini |
| 2006–07 | 1 | NBL | 6th | 33 | 17 | 16 | .515 | Won elimination final (South) 118–97 Won quarterfinal (Perth) 82–78 Lost semifinals (Melbourne) 0–2 | Alan Black | Anthony Stewart | Martin Cattalini |
| 2007–08 | 1 | NBL | 6th | 30 | 16 | 14 | .533 | Lost elimination final (New Zealand) 78–100 | Alan Black | Martin Cattalini | Nathan Jawai |
| 2008–09 | 1 | NBL | 9th | 30 | 11 | 19 | .367 | Did not qualify | Alan Black Mark Beecroft | Martin Cattalini | Martin Cattalini |
| 2009–10 | 1 | NBL | 7th | 28 | 11 | 17 | .393 | Did not qualify | Aaron Fearne | Phill Jones | Dusty Rychart |
| 2010–11 | 1 | NBL | 3rd | 28 | 16 | 12 | .571 | Won semifinals (Townsville) 2–1 Lost NBL finals (New Zealand) 1–2 | Aaron Fearne | Phill Jones Alex Loughton Ian Crosswhite | Ayinde Ubaka |
| 2011–12 | 1 | NBL | 5th | 28 | 15 | 13 | .536 | Did not qualify | Aaron Fearne | Alex Loughton Ian Crosswhite | Jamar Wilson |
| 2012–13 | 1 | NBL | 6th | 28 | 11 | 17 | .393 | Did not qualify | Aaron Fearne | Alex Loughton | Jamar Wilson |
| 2013–14 | 1 | NBL | 6th | 28 | 12 | 16 | .429 | Did not qualify | Aaron Fearne | Cameron Tragardh | Cameron Gliddon |
| 2014–15 | 1 | NBL | 1st | 28 | 21 | 7 | .750 | Won semifinals (Perth) 2–0 Lost NBL finals (New Zealand) 0–2 | Aaron Fearne | Cameron Gliddon | Scottie Wilbekin |
| 2015–16 | 1 | NBL | 6th | 28 | 12 | 16 | .429 | Did not qualify | Aaron Fearne | Cameron Gliddon | Cameron Gliddon |
| 2016–17 | 1 | NBL | 2nd | 28 | 15 | 13 | .536 | Lost semifinals (Perth) 0–2 | Aaron Fearne | Cameron Gliddon | Travis Trice |
| 2017–18 | 1 | NBL | 6th | 28 | 11 | 17 | .393 | Did not qualify | Aaron Fearne | Cameron Gliddon | Cameron Gliddon Mitch McCarron |
| 2018–19 | 1 | NBL | 8th | 28 | 6 | 22 | .214 | Did not qualify | Mike Kelly | Alex Loughton | Melo Trimble |
| 2019–20 | 1 | NBL | 3rd | 28 | 16 | 12 | .571 | Lost semifinals (Perth) 1–2 | Mike Kelly | Nathan Jawai D. J. Newbill | Scott Machado |
| 2020–21 | 1 | NBL | 9th | 36 | 8 | 28 | .222 | Did not qualify | Mike Kelly | Scott Machado | Scott Machado |
| 2021–22 | 1 | NBL | 9th | 28 | 9 | 19 | .321 | Did not qualify | Adam Forde | Scott Machado | Tahjere McCall |
| 2022–23 | 1 | NBL | 3rd | 28 | 18 | 10 | .643 | Lost seeding qualifier (Tasmania) 79–87 Won play-in game (Perth) 91–78 Lost semifinals (Sydney) 1–2 | Adam Forde | Tahjere McCall | D. J. Hogg |
| 2023–24 | 1 | NBL | 8th | 28 | 12 | 16 | .429 | Did not qualify | Adam Forde | Tahjere McCall | Patrick Miller |
| 2024–25 | 1 | NBL | 10th | 29 | 8 | 21 | .276 | Did not qualify | Adam Forde | Taran Armstrong | Sam Waardenburg |
| Regular season record | Regular season record | Regular season record | Regular season record | 763 | 320 | 443 | .419 | 1 regular season champions | 1 regular season champions | 1 regular season champions | 1 regular season champions |
| Finals record | Finals record | Finals record | Finals record | 31 | 13 | 18 | .419 | 0 NBL championships | 0 NBL championships | 0 NBL championships | 0 NBL championships |
As of the end of the 2024–25 season

### All-time records

As of the end of the 2022–23 season
| Statistic | Wins | Losses | Win% |
| All-time regular season record (1999–present) | 300 | 406 | .425 |
| All-time post-season record (1999–present) | 13 | 18 | .419 |
| All-time regular and post-season record | 313 | 424 | .425 |

### Summary

| Years | Chairman | CEO | Head coach | Finals appearances |
| 1999-2001 | Jeff Hopgood | ? | Rod Popp | |
| 2001-2004 | Jeff Hopgood | Brad Tassell | Guy Molloy | 2004 |
| 2004-2005 | Jeff Hopgood | Juanita O'Brien | Guy Molloy | |
| 2005-2006 | John O'Brien | Juanita O'Brien | Alan Black | 2006 |
| 2006-2008 | John O'Brien | Denis Keeffe | Alan Black | 2007, 2008 |
| 2008-2009 | Denis Keeffe | Alan Black | Mark Beecroft | |
| 2009-2011 | Denis Donaghy | Mark Beecroft | Aaron Fearne | 2011 |
| 2011-2014 | Adrian Garrone | Mark Beecroft | Aaron Fearne | |
| 2014-2018 | Troy Stone | Mark Beecroft | Aaron Fearne | 2015, 2017 |
| 2018–2021 | Troy Stone | Mark Beecroft | Mike Kelly | 2020 |
| 2021–2025 | Troy Stone | Mark Beecroft | Adam Forde | 2023 |

## Current roster

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

### Retired jerseys

Cairns Taipans retired numbers :
| No. | Nat. | Player | Position | Tenure |
| 8 | | Aaron Grabau | SG | 1999–2013 |

## Notable past players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
* Criteria
* To appear in this section a player must have either:
* Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
* Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
* Played at least one official NBA match at any time.
* Shaun Bruce
* Matt Burston
* Martin Cattalini
* Torrey Craig
* Rob Edwards
* Anthony Fisher
* Cameron Gliddon
* Aaron Grabau
* Devon Hall
* Nathan Jawai
* Phill Jones
* Jarrod Kenny
* Robert Loe
* Alex Loughton
* / Scott Machado
* Darnell Mee
* Mitchell McCarron
* James Mitchell
* Tony Mitchell
* / Andre Moore
* Cameron Oliver
* Kenny Payne
* Tony Rampton
* / Robert Rose
* Dusty Rychart
* Nathan Sobey
* Clint Steindl
* Anthony Stewart
* Lindsay Tait
* Marcus Timmons
* Cameron Tragardh
* Aaron Trahair
* Travis Trice
* Melo Trimble
* Ayinde Ubaka
* Jarrad Weeks
* Stephen Weigh
* Jayson Wells
* Scottie Wilbekin
* Jamar Wilson
* Mark Worthington
* Mitchell Young