What Adam Forde saw in Luke Paul's 11-minute debut

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One up, one down for 17-year-old NBL Next Star Luke Paul ($115,000).

The 1.98m Western Australian point guard's week began with him announcing his commitment to Duke University as part of the Class of 2027, continued with an ankle fitness test, and ended with his first bucket in Cairns' 97-91 win over Brisbane in Round 4 of NBL27.

The Australian junior representative played 11:07 minutes and went 1-for-3 with two steals. The average age of everyone who took the floor last night, excluding Paul, was 27.8, a full decade older than the NBL Next Star.

“It’s physical out there. It’s a fast-paced game, and there are international players from all around the world, Americans, Australians.

“Everyone’s got different play styles, so you’ve just got to adjust to that. But I’m loving it out there, and I’m loving it here in Cairns.

“It’s been a long time coming now. Obviously, the ankle injury kind of set me back, but it’s good to be back.

“Obviously, Fordie trusts me, and the boys trust me, to go out there, play my game, and do what I do best.

“As much as I wanted to keep playing, I’ve just got to limit it and come back into it and ease into it.

“But it’s good to get one under the belt.”

Paul scored his first basket with a contested right-hand finish on a right-to-left crossover driving layup with 8:25 left in the second quarter. It put Cairns up 28-23.

“I kind of had it mixed up with Fordie when I took the first shot,” Paul admitted.

“But the guys trust me to keep doing my thing and keep shooting.

“I wanted to get downhill and get one on the board. But it’s good to go out there and play my style.

Taipans head coach Adam Forde said they planned to give the rookie about eight minutes, but he extended it to more than 11.

“Luke was really impressive,” Forde said.

“We knew that he was going to be able to handle the ball and do the things off the ball.

"We wanted to ease him into it, and that’s why we gave him another guard out there.

"But what he was doing defensively in the shifts, he got a couple of deflections. There was one where Harrison got an early post and Jonah Bolden was battling for that position, and Luke came in and swooped in and backed him up and got the steal for it.

"There were a lot of things where, for a young man in his first game, he was really impressive.

"We had the minutes planned to keep him to five to eight, and just because he was doing so well, I think that extended out to 11.

"So he'll only grow with confidence. I'll only grow with confidence in him.

"All in all, it was just good to see different contributions from guys throughout the game."

Cairns (3-3) have won two straight to get back to .500, while Brisbane (2-3) have lost three in a row.

Five Taipans dropped double figures, led by import guard Jaylon Brown ($277,000) with 25 (9-for-17), Jack McVeigh ($349,800) and former NBL Next Star Malique Lewis ($207,900) both had 15; Jonah Bolden ($133,600) had 16 off the bench and Keanu Pinder ($300,000) 12.

"We knew Brisbane were going to play in that drop coverage, and that's where he was able to pick his moments," Forde said of Brown.

"Then getting Keanu involved – especially when we get Keanu rolling to the rim, good things generally happen. That's the task that he's been assigned: find his moments but also facilitate, and he's growing in that role.

"I'm just super impressed at how much he keeps growing with every game. Every time we step on the court, the synergy that he's building with Jack as well, developing on that two-man game.

"The first five, six rounds, there are always going to be some teething problems, and we're still in that realm right now. But it's how we want to look at the back end of this month and rolling into the FIBA break next month. The steps are there, and we're making progress."

Bullets wing Nate Hinton ($277,000) led all scorers with 30, centre Tyrell Harrison ($336,100) put up 23, while Lithuanian point guard Arnas Velicka ($277,000) continued to struggle from the field. He shot an anaemic 3-for-15 while hot-and-cold Max Mackinnon ($200,000) went 3-for-16.

"Nate's great," Bullets coach Will Weaver said.

"We're lucky to have him. He is having a fantastic season.

"He defends, very often, the best player on the other team and carries a really heavy load for us offensively. So versatile, so competitive, great energy. I love him."

Mackinnon, 22, is riding the rookie rollercoaster in his first professional season.

"You can't be a shooter and overreact when you miss them and just be excited and think you did something great when you make them, right?" Weaver said.

"He's a shooter. I've coached plenty of shooters, and there are nights like this, and there are nights like the other night where he's six-for-eight.

"For sure, there are things you can look at and try to improve the details of. He hasn't figured out how to draw fouls on these shots like Dakota Mathias and Bryce Cotton and Chris Goulding have.

"He's got to learn how to do that so he gets rewarded for the contact that he feels. But that's a process that a rookie needs to go through the fire to get to that level.

"He wants to be coached, likes it when I coach him hard and hold him to a really high standard. So we'll keep doing that.

"And yes, I'm rocking with Max Mackinnon every day of the week to let it rip."

Paul, who signed as a Next Star at HoopsFest in Perth last February, chose the Taipans because of Forde's reputation for developing guards such as Taran Armstrong ($304,700).

"It's super special," Paul said.

"Everyone on the team can play, and we've got some hoopers on the team.

"Everyone trusts each other, and we want to build an identity that it's hard to play against us, and no one wants to play against us."

What you need to know

• The Cairns Taipans beat the Brisbane Bullets 97-91 at Cairns Convention Centre in Round 4 of NBL27.
• Cairns led 23-17 at quarter time and trailed 50-47 at half-time after Brisbane won the second 33-24, then took the third 27-22 and the fourth 23-19 as Brisbane shot 8-from-27 in the last quarter.
• Jaylon Brown ($277,000) top-scored for Cairns with 25 points on 9-from-17, including 5-from-11 from three, and Nate Hinton ($277,000) led all scorers with 30 for Brisbane on 13-from-24.
• Cairns made 14 of 35 three-pointers and Brisbane eight of 33, an 18-point swing from beyond the arc in a six-point game.
• Tyrell Harrison ($336,100) had 23 points and 18 rebounds, nine of them offensive, as Brisbane won the offensive glass 22-5 and took 17 more shots, 89 to 72, but shot 41.6 percent to Cairns' 48.6.

Cairns Taipans

• Jaylon Brown ($277,000) top-scored with 25 points and four assists on 9-from-17, including 5-from-11 from three.
• Jonah Bolden ($133,600) had 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench on 5-from-8, including 3-from-5 from three.
• Jack McVeigh ($349,800) added 15 points, seven assists and four steals on 5-from-8.
• Malique Lewis ($207,900) scored 15 on 6-from-10 without a turnover.
• Keanu Pinder ($300,000) had 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists on 6-from-12.
• Reyne Smith ($156,300) scored eight in 15 minutes on 2-from-8, making all three of his free throws.
• Kyrin Galloway ($176,000) had two points, three assists and two blocks in 17 minutes off the bench.
• Cairns shot 35-from-72 from the field, 14-from-35 from three and 13-from-16 at the line, with 37 rebounds, 24 assists and 11 turnovers.

Brisbane Bullets

• Nate Hinton ($277,000) scored a game-high 30 points on 13-from-24, including 2-from-7 from three.
• Tyrell Harrison ($336,100) had 23 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks on 10-from-16.
• Max Mackinnon ($200,000) had nine points, 13 rebounds and five assists, but shot 3-from-16, including 2-from-10 from three.
• Jaylin Williams ($277,000) scored nine on 4-from-8.
• Arnas Velicka ($277,000) had eight points and eight assists on 3-from-15, including 1-from-9 from three.
• Jacob Holt ($176,300) added seven points in 12 minutes on 2-from-5.
• Lat Mayen ($69,000) scored five in 15 minutes on 2-from-2.
• Brisbane shot 37-from-89 from the field, 8-from-33 from three and 9-from-13 at the line, with 55 rebounds, 18 assists and 13 turnovers.