Few sporting teams enjoy the home crowd support of the fans as much as the Cairns Taipans do and the home season opener each year in October or November is a game to attend.
The Cairns Taipans have been part of the National Basketball League for over a decade. Some of the famous players from the club include Nathan Jawai, Martin Cattalini, Phill Jones, Darnell Mee, Dusty Rychart, Marcus Timmons and Chris Burgess.
They play their home games at the Cairns Convention Centre. The Snakepit is a nickname for the venue. When the basketball is not on, the Cairns Convention Centre has concerts, shows, expositions and various conventions. The venue is located at the corner of Wharf Street and Sheridan Street.
If you can't get to the season opener then the next best thing is to see the Taipans host the Townsville Crocodiles. These Queensland basketball rivals are not only competing for a spot in the NBL playoffs but also for local bragging rights. The capacity of the arena is over 5,000 and it does fill up for the big games.
One part of attending a Taipans game that is unique is watching their snake mascot Joe Blake. His antics entertain the crowd during timeouts and sometimes annoy the opposition players.
The Cairns taipans entered the National Basketball League in 1999. They finished in 11th for the 1999/200 season. Three more seasons went by before they made it to the NBL playoffs. They finished in 6th spot in 2003/2004 due to the play of star Marcus Timmons. From the 2005/2006 season to the 2007/2008 season they were a contending team but didn't win a championship.
The 2007–08 NBL season was when Nathan Jawai made an impact. He dominated in the paint with inside scoring, rebounding and shotblocking. His power game had basketball fans calling him "Baby Shaq". Jawai was then drafted from the Taipans to the NBA.
