IT HAS not been the most easy going campaign in the National Basketball League (NBL) so far for the Cairns Taipans during the 2025/26 season, heading into the midseason break on the bottom of the ladder with nowhere to go but up.

It was billed as a season of promise for the Taipans after the blockbuster off-season addition of Jack McVeigh, who joined the team following a stint in the NBA as a member of the Houston Rockets, with his most previous NBL outing resulting in a Grand Final MVP with the Tasmania JackJumpers. His level of star power meant the Taipans were a big threat to other sides this season, especially under Adam Forde.

However, it has not been as successful as hoped up north, with Cairns winning just three of its first 15 games and a finals appearance looking out of reach 10 weeks into the season. Although Sam Waardenburg‘s return will give the team a much-needed boost in the frontcourt, it may well be too little, too late.

McVeigh has been able to star whenever he gets on the court, although injuries did interrupt his start to the season. However, the NBL champion has picked up his form of late, scoring 39 and 35 points over his two most recent outings respectively, and although the Taipans have not been able to secure the win in those outings, the losses were a lot closer than previously.

On the season, McVeigh is averaging 20.2 points per game while shooting 51 per cent per game, and is getting better by the week. However, he is currently a one-man army on the offensive end, and will need some more help if he is to get the Taipans to more wins during the remainder of the season.

The midseason addition of Mojave King has added another dimension to Cairns’ game on the offensive end, as highlighted by a 32-point eruption in one of his first games in a Taipans uniform. Since he joined the team, the northernmost team in the competition has been putting up bigger scores, but have fallen painfully short of wins.

The lowest scoring team in the competition at 81.4 points per game, the Taipans simply need to get more points on the board and get some help to McVeigh. King has been a solid solution so far, but there will need to be another 10-15 points added. Waardenberg will likely add that upon his return, but getting some more production from sharpshooter Reyne Smith could also be a strong move.

The sharpshooter has shown his capabilities to hit the scoreboard in the past, particularly during his time with the Louisville Cardinals, where he set the program record for three-pointers in a single game. If he can become a more consistent perimeter threat, it may give the Taipans the scoring boost they need in the back end of the season.

Although 12 losses to this point in the season is not ideal, the Taipans will be likely using the international break to tweak their offence and make a strong charge to close out the fixture. Although a postseason berth may be ruled out, they could trouble some contending sides on the run home.