Season Stats

What Went Right?

• Mika Vukona was the only consistently effective player. Abercrombie, Pledger, and Johnson (plus a few others sporadically) were mostly good too. Each had more in the tank which we only saw on a few occasions.
• Tom Abercrombie’s jump shot is a thing of beauty, and should never be underestimated. Not by oppositions, not by his own coach or teammates, and certainly not by himself. He was third in the league for 3pt percentage (41.9%).
• Gary Wilkinson brought a big boost when he re-joined this team half a dozen or so games into the season. It meant Alonzo Burton had to be cut, though Wilkinson was a clear upgrade. He brought a scoring presence, a rebounding capability and most importantly a hustle and desire that really picked this team up after a very poor start.
• Offensively, they actually outscored what they’d managed as a team in total points the last few years. Yeah, so… there you go.

What Went Wrong?

• Defence. Where was it? Dillon Boucher wasn’t really one for padding the box scores, but that defensive presence was so underrated while he was playing. Vukona does his bit, the rest were found wanting.
• Fouling. Not only was the defensive pressure not up to scratch, but they just kept giving away easy fouls and free trips to the line. Mika Vukona had 119 fouls for the season, far and away the league’s most, and in second place in the ANBL was Kerron Johnson with 94.
• Alex Pledger’s injury was a big blow. The Breakers were struggling to compete in the rebounding stakes anyway, but once their only true big man went down with what seemed at first like a minor injury (though ended up prematurely ruling him out of the rest of the season), things were much worse. Giving up extra possessions (and failing to get those offensive boards themselves) is always gonna be trouble.
• Kerron Johnson looked very good at times, yet he failed to fill the Cedric Jackson void. If anything, he was too unselfish, dishing a fair amount of assists (4.3 p/g - 6th in the league) instead of taking open shots himself. Maybe he’s not a confident 3pt shooter? He showed some great touch when he tried it though and when taking it to the basket he was superb. Maybe a second year will see him learning from this one?
• Away record: 3-11. Home Record: 8-6. Both well below what we’ve seen in the past. Their inability to put games away cost them all season, with 7 losses by 4 or fewer points. That comes down to coaching and clutch players. Both were found wanting this season.
• So what about Dean Vickerman? Obviously he was never going to be another Andrej Lemanis. Working under Andrej would have been a great learning curve though and Vickerman was the clear chose to take over. He’d be the first to admit this year wasn’t good enough. Luckily he has an understanding boardroom, and will have next year to make amends. His Saturday Night Fever dress code aside, Vickerman deserves the chance to do just that.

FBR MVP Winner

Our Fast Break Reports recapped each NZ Breakers game, giving a little insight and perspective, but most importantly, handing out 3, 2 and 1 point(s) to the top three Breakers players each game, 3 to the best, 2 to the second best, and you can guess the rest. Well, with the season at a close, we can now reveal the FBR MVP! Here's how things unfolded:

From the start it was Kerron Johnson who looked to run away with our MVP honours, as the classy American bagged top points in 4 of the first 5 games. Mika Vukona did his best to keep track with him, always putting in maximum effort, and being rewarded with points in exactly three quarters of all games. The start was notably bad from the Breakers, so a number of guys, such as Tom Abercrombie and Daryl Corletto failed to have the impact we’ve seen in past years, and it was reflected in the points. Corletto had a minimal impact most of the season, starting games, though mostly being benched down the stretch. Abercrombie kicked into gear around a quarter of the way through things, going on a great run in the home stretch against Adelaide, Melbourne and Townsville. Alex Pledger was always good for a basket of rebounds, and kept chipping away at points himself, though injury cut his season short. Then, suddenly, the re-emergence of Gary Wilkinson. Big Red was immediately effective, and it wasn’t long before he was surging up the FBR MVP table. By the half way stage, it was clearly shaping up as a four horse race between Wilkinson, Abercrombie, Johnson and Vukona. Johnson faltered, slipping out of reach as the year went on, while Abercrombie came into form with the season on the line. Wilkinson bagged plenty of points in losses, though his monster games against Sydney would have made him a popular winner. It was Mika Vukona however, with maximum points in the final game, who came out on top, and I don’t think many people would argue with that. The big Fijian is the heart and soul of this team now. He struggled to adapt early to the new, stricter foul interpretations, but was never short of effort and enthusiasm. Couple that with a much improved jump shot, and you have a guy who averaged 11.2 ppg, 7.7 rpg and 2.7 apg, shooting 55% from the field over the entire season. A deserving MVP.

Mika Vukona 38 points

Gary Wilkinson 37

Tom Abercrombie 37

Kerron Johnson 30

Player Recruitment

So, where to now? The difficult thing about this ANBL roster system is that players are all rated on a scale of 1-10 based on experience and pedigree, and a team’s squad must fit under 70 points. It’s complicated, and we’ll let the board deal with it. Youth players are cheaper, star players are expensive, college players are automatically a 7 or something. Whatever. Let’s talk brass tax.

Here’s who we won’t be seeing in Breakers jerseys next year: Kirk Penney and Cedric Jackson. Penney is headed back to the States to finish his education, putting off a Breakers return that he has expressed much interest in for another year. Meanwhile Action Jackson declined an offer and will remain in Europe for next season. There go the two easy fixes for this team.

Of the current roster, Gary Wilkinson and Casey Frank are almost guaranteed not to be back. Frank was a midseason replacement anyway, and I guess Wilkinson was too, though he was more at his depth. It doesn’t sound like either party is much fussed over a return, however, and so Wilko will probably be gone. Kerron Johnson is unlikely to return, but more likely than those two at least. Despite being a highly rated college prospect, KJ didn’t set the league alight like it was hoped he would. Can the Breakers get an upgrade at PG? It might be hard, yet I think they’ll try. Johnson has a club option on his contract which gives NZB the choice of re-signing him or letting him walk. Also off contract is Daryl Corletto, who despite an underwhelming season, is one of the best 3-pt shooters around, and with CJ gone, that’s even more important. Not sure if it’d mean an increase in his role or not. Still, I expect the Breakers try and bring him back. Corletto seems well set up in NZ – his wife Julie is playing netball for the Northern Mystics – and he’ll probably be just as keen on a return.