NZ Breakers 101-80 Adelaide 36ers

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Two from two, baby! The NZ Breakers returned to the ol’ familiar haunt of Vector Arena, down the backstreets of Auckland City, and produced the goods in front of over 6000 fans. 50 points in the first half, 51 in the second and the first home game of the season went basically as planned.

After a slow first few minutes, the Breakers found their shooting touch and kept it for the next three quarters or so. The impact of guys like Tai Wesley and Tom Abercrombie off the bench was immediately apparent, as Wesley spun his man in the paint almost straight away, drawing the foul, and Tommy started flicking in those threes with ease as he tends to. He hit a treble to tie things at 16 and another for a 19-16 NZB lead – a lead they never lost.

Corey Webster’s first game was inhibited by a back injury but he finally got the chance to strut his stuff properly at the two-guard. He was superb. In a slightly more defined role, he seems to have found a great confidence in his jump shot and he was banking ‘em from all over. He had 17 by the break and went on to tie his career record of 23 in a game. Expect him to break that mark at some point this season. A 9 point lead after the first quarter became 11 at half time, a relatively even 2Q finishing with an Adelaide technical for a flop as Cedric looked to do his thing.

It was the third quarter when things blew out. Cedric hit a few shots, and stuff heated up on defence. Corey Webster had a nice block and Tommy Abercrombie helped himself to a couple too. TA had 11pts & 6reb in a nice 20 minute night off the bench coming back from surgery. Positive signs there, as also for Alex Pledger who did a couple nice things in his 12:53 (8pts/5reb).

No surprises that the physicality of Tai Wesley and the 3 mile radius of Ekene Ibekwe saw dividends too. Each had double doubles, Wesley with 15p & 10r and Ibekwe with 11p & 11r. By three quarter time the lead was 25. Cedric came off soon after, but the Breakers dried up with some lazy possessions and the 36ers cut things to 10. It never felt like it they’d catch them, still not pleasant though. Back came a few starters and the door was promptly closed. Vickerman even found some time for Tai Wynyard, aka the youngest Tall Black ever, and Jordan Ngatai. 101-80 the final score.

The Breakers struggled with fouling last season and early on it was noticeable again. However throw in the strength of Wesley and the nimbleness of Cedric and that tally swung around. In the end it was a 25-21 count with the home team the greater. Not too bad, though every Breakers player with more than 44 secs on the court fouled at least once.

Webster hit 4-5 from deep. Cedric added 4 of his own and the Breakers hit 12-24 as a team. Pretty clinical that. They may have a few worries over the 9 missed free throws on the night though.

Winning their first game in NZ was crucial. Last season they dropped 6 of 14 games on these soils and it was telling that both Corey Webster and Cedric Jackson stressed the need to win at home afterwards, suggesting that the coach has said as much himself. 1/1, so far so good.

Adelaide swept the Breakers last season. All four games, including 2 in NZ. This was exactly the way they needed to start a stretch that’ll see them play 3 times in 6 days. It’s off to Melbourne to play on Sunday now. That’ll be fun.

No word on whether or not Justin Timberlake turned up, though the likes of Valerie Adams, Manu Vatuvei and the guy from Pulp Sport that used to have dreads but now doesn’t were all in attendance. There always seems to be a healthy splattering of celebrities at these games. Maybe it’s Sky TV trying to do an LA Lakers type thing. If so, who would be our Jack Nicholson?

Stocks:

Heading upwards? That’d be mister Tai Wesley, who went 1-9 from the field in Perth for 5 points, bouncing back with 15 points from 7 shots. He looked to post up far more and eliminated the three pointers. He’s a tough fella, and a great asset off the bench as he’s proving. The best part is that since he plays for Guam internationally (born in the USA to a Fijian father/American mother) he counts as a local player. Something about Oceania, who cares, it works fine by us.

Reuben Te Rangi is trending in the other direction. But understandably so. He was sentenced for his part in that brouhaha last year, getting a fine and some community service. You could forgive him if his mind wasn’t on his game 100%. Te Rangi picked up early foul trouble and was limited to 16 mins, in which he didn’t take a single shot. Oofh. A shame, since with Abercrombie being eased back, this was a good chance for him as a starter.

Play of the Game

Ooh, let’s go with this beauty. A loose ball is turned over but Cedric sneaks in and wins in back. He sucks in a couple defenders as he heads towards the hoop, handing it off to Ibekwe for the dunk. Did you know Ibekwe has a 7ft 6 wingspan? If you watched the telly coverage you do.