Waardenburg Prepares to Match Baynes

Thursday, January 5, 2023

Cairns Taipans big Sam Waardenburg is excited to go toe-to-toe with Australian star Aron Baynes in tonight’s game against the Brisbane Bullets.

Waardenburg has had to up his game with MVP candidate Keanu Pinder sidelined due to an ankle injury.

With Waardenburg’s strong contribution, the Snakes won both games in round 13, and the youngster is keen to take on the challenge when he goes up against the Bullets’ trio of bigs in Baynes, Gorjok Gak and Tyrell Harrison.

Baynes had a storied NBA and Australian Boomers career before heading to the NBL with Brisbane.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cairns Taipans coach Adam Forde is unwell and unavailable for tonight’s game against the Brisbane Bullets.<a href="https://t.co/O4DlL3PvI6">https://t.co/O4DlL3PvI6</a> <a href="https://t.co/MnuNdVX3hh">https://t.co/MnuNdVX3hh</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1610816038857502720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Any time you get to play someone like that who’s been in the NBA for a few years, it’s always exciting,” Waardenburg said via the Cairns Post.

“I love challenges like that. Coming from college or AAC you’re playing someone who’s going to be a first-round pick every day. You love those match-ups, it’s why you play the game.

“I’d love for him to play and have that challenge.”

Cairns sits third on the ladder with a 12-7 record. Waardenburg and the Taipans play the Bullets tonight at 7:30pm AEDT at Nissan Arena.