Adelaide 36ers 93-86 NZ Breakers

Eh, we’ve seen worse.

The Breakers dropped one in Adelaide, but they put up a fight and it took a couple of career days from a pair of 36ers to make it happen. Not just one guy ruling things, but two of them.

Things started ok with the two teams trading blows, but then the Breakers went cold for a few minutes and the 36ers established a lead. That lead fluctuated throughout the game yet we never quite overthrew it. 9 down at the 1Q mark, 7 down at HT, 9 down at 3Q and 7 down at the final buzzer.

Aussie international (he was at the recent World Cup) Adam Gibson was the chief destroyer, helped by Brendan Teys. Teys had a career-high 23 points, while Gibson splattered himself all over the box score, with 34 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. That right there, folks, is possibly the most dominant single-game performance of the season, yet with minutes to go the Breakers were still in contention.

Adelaide passed the ball superbly all day. They were constantly on the move, dragging defenders out and finding space to shoot, not settling for deep attempts (just 10 3pt efforts compared to 29 from NZB). Luke Schenscher, the guy who looks like he probably grows his own kale in the backyard (or in the very least sells homemade jewellery at the farmer’s market), had some success in the paint, and the home side out-rebounded the kiwis by 42 to 31. In this league, and especially for this Breakers team, that’s not a good indication.

Still, Cedric started well and Abercrombie found his finishing touch at some point too. Unfortunately Vukona, Pledger, Wesley and Ibekwe, aka the big bullies up front, shot 10-30 between them as they all struggled at times to finish around the rim. Contested layups and blocked second efforts… it was a little messy. And despite the quick turnaround (they played on Friday night in Auckland, Sunday arvo in Adelaide) Coach Vickerman mostly went with just an 8 man rotation, with Reuben Te Rangi seeing just 6 mins and Duane Bailey only 6 seconds.

They stayed close, though. And in this sport sometimes that’s all you need. You stay close enough to strike late, riding a couple hot scorers, then amp things up come cruch time. That happened.

Around the final 6-7 mins a few rough calls seemed to go against the Breakers and a lesser team would have crumbled. Some iffy fouls at both ends and a loose ball clearly not off Corey Webster. Instead Los Breakos started hounding for steals and their opponents seemed only too happy to give them up. Abercrombie slayed a pair of threes, with a few ADL36 possessions that didn’t pass halfway line and Corey Webster had the chance to give the Breakers an unlikely lead with a treble…

…

… He missed.

Then TomAbo was slapped with a BS technical after trying to grab a desperate steal which meant two free throws and ADL possession. Therefore NZB had to foul again, meaning more FTs and the lead ballooned irretrievably beyond that single score touching distance and that was the game.

They scored enough points to win this game away from home, they just didn’t find an answer to both Gibson and Teys going off. One guy you can isolate, but not two. Hence why the Cleveland Cavaliers are gonna win 55 games this NBA season (and Kobe’s Lakers are gonna win 25-30). The defence needed to be better, but even still the Breakers managed 9 blocks and 11 steals. The only truly worrying aspect is that Adam Gibson exposed the same weakness against guards that can drive to the basket that Scottie Wilbekin showed for Cairns. Oh, and guess who we play next? Yep, the Taipans.

This was a stinging loss yet one we can be proud of. It’s practically impossible to win every game and after seeing the hustle and fight that they showed on a night where things weren’t all clicking it’s clear that this is a side that’ll win more than they lose.

HUGE game for @adamgibson_1 with a career high 34 points as the @Adelaide36ers beat the @NZBreakers 93-86 #NBL15
— NBL (@NBL) November 2, 2014

By the way, cool to see kiwi Richie Edwards getting 3 mins for the 36ers off the bench. He was the Rookie of the Year in the NZ NBL playing for the Canterbury Rams this year and had been training in Florida. A 24-year old former Junior Tall Black, he was born in New York but his parents moved here when he was young. Tall Blacks forward BJ Anthony started for Adelaide and had a nice game, with 5 points and 9 rebounds.

Stocks:

Movin’ On Up Like Curtis Mayfield – Mr Abercrombie. Pre-season surgery messed a lot of things up with his preparation and his first few performances showed some expected rustiness. This was more like the guy we know and love. That sweet shooting action, that clinical nature, those springing blocks. He hit 8-15 including 5-8 from 3pt with 3 blocked shots, finding hope for his team where there had been none. 25 points for the night. The next best were Cedric with 20 (plus 4r/6a) and Corey Webster with 13.

Goin’ Down Slow Like Howlin’ Wolf – Rhys Carter is gonna have nights like this with the role he has. He’s a bit of a spark plug/experienced head hybrid, hitting pull-up threes and dishing the ball around. Except that he only hit 1 of his 6 attempts from three zone. Ah well, onwards and upwards.

Key Stat

The Breakers shot 13-29 for 44.8% from 3pt… and 19-52 for 36.5% from 2pt. Better three point shooting than total field goal percentage? What the hell, man!?