Hoops

Cairns Taipans 18/19

Fearne's system is complicated, Sixties. If Fearne coaches next season you want a PG who's familiar (Weeks), but if it's a new coach then the system will be new. In which case you want a more talented guy there.

Manu,
You want Weeks to start as PG but then admit he is not good enough if there is a different coach. It shouldn't matter who is coaching, you get a better PG wether he is off the bench or starting. Weeks needs to get rid of the oranges from under his armpits.

I thought the Carrera thing was a bit over reactive, he had some stuff that Taipans really need, Fearne couldn't control/manage him so, bye bye Carrera, and look out anyone else who dares...

Keep: Gliddon, McCarron, Loughton, Egwu.

I would also keep Weekes but not as a starter. He is being used too much at the moment in my opinion. IF he can stay relatively injury free, I think Jawai can still make a strong contribution. If Kuany is not going to be used there doesn't seem much point him being retained however it seems he is contracted.

The 2 open import positions (assuming Egwu is retained) will depend somewhat on whether McCarron is retained or not. If he is retained that will require extra cash which could potentially leave not a great deal for the import spots. Presumably Carrerra was being paid reasonably well this season and Scoochie was a “cheapie” (as imports go) so I would imagine that at least one of the available spots will have to be someone straight out of college again.

As for the coaching position, Fearne does bring some very good aspects to the table. His recruiting, preparation and attention to detail are strong points however his handling of the imports is questionable at times in my opinion. He expects too much from them at times and they tend to become scapegoats for his own frustrations in my opinion. He seems to butt heads with at least one of them every season. Some of that may well be justified but you need to give players some leeway and room for error otherwise you sap their confidence.

Overall, I don't think there needs to be wholesale changes. At least one of the new imports needs to be very good and the other able to at least play his role well.

Weeks to start, but only if Fearne stays.

If a new coach comes in and the system subsequently changes, a better player needs to start at PG

Weeks as starting PG hahahhahahaha

Get rid of Weeks. An ninth/tenth man off the bench at most. Too much emotion for his skills. Having him as a player on minutes is one of their problems.

Egwu is cash money from 15-18 feet when open. Absolutely he's smart, just about leads the team in assists. Defends well. I'm a huge fan of his.

Give Loughton a 12-monther. I don't think our front line is bad with a healthy Nate. Splash the cash on a 6'7" ish wing and hope to god McCarron stays. Keep Weeks at starting PG and get someone like Ben Woodside (meaning a smart player, but obviously cheaper. That's the reason we recruit our PGs straight out of college imo, because they're cheaper than proven multi-year pros) to battle him for the starting spot.

that last one was me..

one thing I'll add is that Egwu seems very smart. He seems to pick up complex plays very well and is in tune with what fearne's trying to do a lot of the time, like the anti-scoochie ;-). however, he just doesn't seem to always have the skills to finish as well as other players in his position can, and had a lot of foul problems earlier this year too. he earned his starting spot this year, and not just by default.

that is enough outs. no point discarding too many in case there aren't too many replacements available.

Plan is to keep egwu... Will eventually naturalise

Nice wrap.

Keep Egwu without question