February 4th, 2010 by dustyrychart
Huge win last night against Perth at home. As I was interviewed after the game by Shane “the Hammer” Heal he asked what are we playing for since we most likely won’t make the playoffs. Well self-pride, for a team next year and for the community. Just because the playoffs might be out of reach doesn’t mean we just lay over and let teams come in here and beat us.
With 2 more games to go we can finish this season strong and give us confidence heading into the 2010/2011 season. Over the last few weeks we’ve been playing our best ball of the year. To bad it took us until the end of the season to gel and understand each other. That’s always the hardest part of putting together a new team. You never know when and if there is going to be chemistry among the team and that’s what we were fighting to find for most of the year. Hopefully we can learn from this and understand that we have to find it earlier next season or we will be in the same position.
One thing is for certain and there are 3 teams in the playoffs and one (Hawks) need just one more win to secure their spot. I really don’t have a clear favorite but the way the Wildcats came at us in the 1st quarter last night was a sign of a championship team but they fizzled down the stretch. Right now my two for the grand final are the Blaze vs Wildcats. If the Wildcats get home court advantage then I think they are the clear favorites just because of the homer calls they get at the Jungle. Whatever happens, this years playoffs are going to be the most intense and exciting the NBL has seen in years. Get on board
January 27th, 2010 by dustyrychart
New NBL stats site @ http://nbl.pro-stats.com.au/
January 11th, 2010 by dustyrychart
Well as many of you know our backs are against the wall once again. We’re not fully out of the top 4 but losing one more game might be the nail in the coffin. Losing is one of life’s most frustrating things and is up there with trying to lose weight or catching all the red lights in town on a route that usually takes 5 mins now takes 15-20.
We have two crucial games coming up @Adelaide and @Perth which are hard places to get wins at no matter how you roll the dice. Getting both wins would be a blessing and sign but realistically it’s going to be tough. Adelaide is coming off a few loses and it’s win or else. Perth on the other hand have emerged from the pack and lead the league and aren’t playing that bad either. To get these next few games we have to find team chemistry and a swagger about ourselves that hasn’t consistently been there all season. Why not, well I don’t know.
2009/2010 has been one of the most up and down seasons that I have ever been apart of and it’s constantly testing me personally but lets get these wins and finish the season strong.
Follow me on Twitter @dusty_rychart
December 27th, 2009 by dustyrychart
Now that Christmas is over we have to get back to business and finish the season stronger and make a real push for the playoffs. Coming off of three straight wins at home has kept our hopes alive and this is business end of the season. We either buckle down and make something happen or we just lay down and accept not making the playoffs.
The three wins at home has definitely given us some confidence heading into the back end of the season. Our next two games are against the Tigers who are coming off of a nice win over the Hawks on Boxing day. Adding a player such as Chris Anstey certainly gives them new hope in finishing the season strong. Many have written off the Tigers but we all know that Anstey is the kind of player that can carry a team if needed and has proven that over the years. These two games are going to be tough for us but I think that we can get them both. Right now anyone can beat anyone on any given night. The league leaders a few weeks ago were the Hawks and now they have dropped 3-4 straight games.
The New Years eve game looks like it’s going t be a sell out and should be a positive for us. I haven’t played in front of a sell out crowd yet this year but hoping this next game will be my first.
I hope that you all can make it out to the game New Years because it’s a huge game for us and we need all the support we can get.
See you at the game
December 21st, 2009 by dustyrychart
Just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Be safe and see you at the games.
December 11th, 2009 by dustyrychart
Tonight is the first of 3 straight home games for us and it starts against the Melbourne Tigers and the return of Chris Anstey from hip surgery. They have been struggling like us so far this year but are coming off a great emotional win in Adelaide that saw Julius Hodge stomping all over Brett Maher’s name on his court. Very controversial and disrespectful. It’s going to be one of those ugly games with both team having their backs against the wall and equally needing this win to stay in the playoff hunt.
It’s going to take all we got to get this one. The Gold Coast game hurt but we played our best ball of the year and I think we can build from that but we first have to minimize errors and get this chemistry working to pull off a nice winning streak.
I remember with the Bullets we started the year off 3-3 with a talented squad then all of a sudden we found our chemistry and took off to 21 wins in a row. Not saying we can get 21 but 5-7 wins in a row would be nice and realistic.
Cairns fans get out their tonight and support us with a full house! We won’t disappoint!
November 27th, 2009 by dustyrychart
After 2 good wins over the Breakers and Tigers and one loss to the Breakers over the ditch puts our record to date at 6-9. This year was always going to be tough but it would be more satisfying if we could string a better than 6-9 record. Thursday night over in Auckland I witnessed the Breakers in one of their zones especially Oscar Forman who couldn’t miss from beyond the arc. The Breakers rely so heavily on their 3 point shooting and when they are on they are hard to stay with but live and die by the 3 as well. I’m not sure if that will get it done playoff time but they were lights out on Thursday. I don’t know if it was our lack of putting a hand up or were they that good?
Anyway we have two tough road game coming up vs the Crocs and then down the coast to face the Blaze. Both teams are hitting high notes at the moment and playing some good ball so we will have to be on our “A” game to produce wins.
I now know what my Minnesota Timberwolves feel like as they are in a worse postion than we with only 1 win all year. Never a good feeling when you are getting beat by more than 10 points. You can handle losing when you put in a fight and know that you could have won the game but the other team on that given night was just better. With 15 games already under our belts the season is more than half way done and before we know it this season will have been a statistic and another season will be starting. Still time to turn things around but how long will it be before we have zero chance of getting into the playoffs. Somehow, someway we have find within ourselves to string out some games and play more consistent winning ball.
That is it for now. Let’s get those wins!
November 19th, 2009 by dustyrychart
Finally it has happened again! We won! with 12 games under our belts we are still trying to find our way on offense and get some wins. We have already set our identity that we are a defensive team. We have been holding teams lower than their season averages but if you can’t put points on the board it doesn’t matter how good your defense is.
Earlier today we had shoot around and soon after were asked to head down into the locker room where we were all asked if we have been giving it our all. I think that hit home for a lot of guys and we came out blazing. Not shooting the lights out but mentally it seemed that everyone was ready to play this game. If we all come out like tonight switched on I can guarantee more results just like this. This win puts us at 5-8 and we still have a chance at the top 4 if we can string a nice winning streak together.
Happy with this win but you gotta put it behind you and concentrate on the next team and game. Dwelling on loses or celebrating wins too long can have a negative affect. We have to build from this and take it up another level on the road. There is an added difficulty winning games on the road and we have 4 in a row so we have plenty of time to figure out how to get it done on the road.
I would also like to thank the Cairns fans tonight. Thanks for continuing to support us through the wins and loses it’s much appreciated.
November 19th, 2009 by dustyrychart
Here are some Cairns Taipans pictures, and yes they are all of me sorry.
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