Nnanna on the way back
TweetTHERE'S a lot going on in Cairns this week with the NBL's Taipans retaining import "big" Nnanna Egwu and receiving a $1.5million upgrade for their training facility.
Egwu, Travis Trice and Fuquan Edwin started the 2016-17 season as Cairns' import trio, Edwin fuquan off late and replaced by Tony Mitchell.
Mitchell won't be back - a written apology is expected! - Edwin is long gone, Mark Worthington has retired so you know there have to be some substantial changes to Cairns' lineup.
Retaining Egwu is a positive for core stability, Cam Gliddon, Nathan Jawai, Alex Loughton, Stephen Weigh, Mitch McCarron and Jarrad Weeks all back from the Orange's 2016-17 semi finalist.
“First and foremost, Nnanna is a fantastic person and teammate. He adapted to the culture here and our style of play, and brought a tremendous work ethic every day to practice and a great attitude to games,” Taipans coach Aaron Fearne said.
“He’ll improve a lot going forward. He’s extremely dependable and professional, and for a second-year pro he’s got the maturity of a 10-year vet. It was a huge priority for us to bring him back to our program.”
Egwu, 24 and 211cm, won the club's Coaches Award, led the team in field goal percentage on 56, while averaging 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds.
He delighted fans with his dunks and athleticism, but Egwu probably best is remembered for his hard foul on Sydney's Greg Whittington which prompted a heated reaction from Jason Cadee.
That then led to Mark Worthington intervening before Aleks Maric clamped Wortho in a headlock and dragged him to the sidelines.
Ah, the good old days.
“Obviously when Nate (Jawai) was out injured or struck foul trouble early, Nnanna was always there to keep it chugging along. We as a coaching staff are excited he’s coming back and the playing group will be as well,” Fearne said.
Expect the wily Taipans coach to add another quality Aussie from a college program to his lineup, sooner than later - a la Gliddon, Clint Steindl and Mitch Young from the recent past.
MEANWHILE in Cairns, a $1.5 million election commitment has meant a major redevelopment for Cairns Basketball and the Taipans' training facility, part of a wider $3 million project.
Cairns Basketball will receive the first portion of funding in the coming months, with construction of a new court, a specialised sports science building and landscaping, according to Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch.
“Through expanding the facilities, Cairns Basketball will continue to grow the sport at the grassroots level for boys and girls teams, indigenous youth, and disability groups, including reinstating the very successful Midnight Basketball program,” Entsch said.
The work is expected to be completed within 12 months, by March next year.
Eight international teams are booked for preliminary rounds of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
“This is really special and we couldn’t be more thrilled with Warren’s support. This has happened over a long period of time and a lot of conversations around building a strategy to really capitalise on what the Taipans have been able to achieve in the community, and that’s drive their profile around positive messages," Taipans CEO and Cairns Basketball President Mark Beecroft said.
“Having those players in the community has meant we are now hamstrung for space at Cairns Basketball – we don’t have the ability to cater to all the boys and girls that actually want to play the game and this funding will directly build capacity for our ability to grow at a grassroots level.”
The venue previously has hosted the NBL Preseason Blitz Tournament.
NA-NA NA-NA NA-NA NA-NA NA-NA NA-NA NA, Egwu! (To the tune of the Batman TV theme)