Fast Break Report #5: Welcome Back, Corey
(Fiona Goodall/Getty Images AsiaPac)
NZ Breakers 74-62 Sydney Kings
There comes a time in every great story when it feels like all hope has gone and then in that moment of ultimate despair you cast your eyes towards the horizon and over the hill comes riding a knight in shining armour.
Corey Webster is back, people.
His intentions were clear from the start. Webby scored after 17 seconds and on his first touch of his return and would thoroughly dominate the early stages of this game. This is a guy who’s just come back from NBA pre-season. He successfully won over a team of world-class coaches in a trial, stayed on to work with those coaches for several weeks and recently logged three games of action against NBA talent. Imagine the skills he’d have picked up with that exposure. Imagine the incredible tutelage and the wisdom he’d have absorbed. Imagine spending every day at training with Anthony Davis, one of the top five players on the planet (if not already then absolutely certainly by the end of the season). And this on top of already being one of the best playmakers in the NBL. The potential is immense.
And what he did to this offence was great. Starting at SG with Cedric at the point, Abercrombie SF, Mika Vukona PF and Catfish Jackson C… there’s a quintet worth betting on. Five players with scoring variety and a couple of supreme defenders. What a line up. It showed too as the Breakers got out to an early lead that ultimately they wouldn’t ever relinquish – the last time the score was level was after a nice Julian Khazzouh finish to make it 2-2. Webster had 8 points after only four minutes.
Part of the early success was an aggression off the dribble and a pace of play that had the Kings flustering. Early fouls meant three quick trips to the line and the Kings were in the 1Q bonus after four and a half minutes and before the Breakers had even committed a foul. Khazzouh was a constant threat due to all the different things he can do but Catfish was up for the battle, and the defence played very well early on. Things were clicking. But then the bench came in (with NZB up 14-5).
Something wasn’t nearly as slick with the reserves on the court. Even the starters that continued had troubles, Mika threw an inbounds pass asking way too much of Old McDonald and we had our first dumbass play of the night, something we’ve seen many times through the first four games of this season. By the time Webster sat it was hard to see where the points were coming from. Cedric/Bartlett/Te Rangi/Wesley/Pledger doesn’t scream the same level of danger and efficiency. That line-up spent a little over 2 mins together late in the first and were outscored 7-4, committing three turnovers and rode some poor Kings shooting to hold that lead (like a missed Angus Brandt tip in). The Breaks drew a couple fouls and TA hit a jumper to stretch the score to 23-14 at the quarter.
Julian Khazzouh has a bit of Pau Gasol about him and it’s not just the curly locks. He’s a big player with range, who can put the ball on the floor without issue and knows how to dominate under the basket too. The Breakers actually had no answer for him, not once Catfish got in foul trouble. It was a shame we didn’t get to see that scrap to its conclusion but Cat got too physical on him and the refs were in no mood for it. It’s probably lucky that the Kings didn’t roll with him more. Still, Khazz was a big part of their keeping this game close because it was the fouls that did it. The game lost its early flow and settled into a grind that the Breakers weren’t looking for. Mika Vukona had a couple of superb defensive plays, the Kings continued to miss shots and at the half it was 38-32, suddenly a low-scorer.
On a sharper night the Breakers may have pulled away. Instead they had to deal with the increasingly vibrant Marcus Thornton as he started finding his way inside on the dribble. Mistakes and fouls were settling into the team and for a side that really spreads its wings in transitional offence, the stop-start nature of the game wasn’t helping. What was helping were the offensive boards that were being hoovered up all game. Mika had 7 of them! That’s more than the entire Kings team combined (5), the Breakers with 17 in total.
The Kings repeatedly whiffed on shots that could have closed the game to something more competitive. As it was, it was still a nervy one in places. The Breaks were up 51-44 at 3Q time, a lead that closed to 59-54 when Cedric hit a pretty floater on the run. NZB definitely not helped by Catfish Jackson fouling out with 8:23 to play.
But some questionable decisions with the ball were overcome late on by quality rebounding and a few big defensive plays by Mika and Tai. Tai Wesley was a bit mixed for most of the game but he finished very strongly. The Breakers went on an 11-4 run to do it by a length in the end.
Corey Webster was the star. 22 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists on return. The only blight was his 5 turnovers as he was hounded in the middle couple quarters. The Breakers have absolutely gotta find some way to protect the ball better because Cedric had 6 turnovers, Mika had 4 of them, Pledger 3 and Reuben Te Rangi 4 in only 9:36 mins. 27 TOs all up. Just a bit lucky Sydney had 18 themselves.
Tom Abercrombie shot the ball gorgeously as always, though this game he found a lot of his points driving from the baseline. So long as he’s keeping the dribble there ain’t nothing wrong with that. He had 15 points with 10 boards. Plus not a single turnover, yay! Also Wesley had 11 & 7 off the bench, Vukona with 7p/9r/3s and Cedric logged a solid 11p/7r/6a/2s game without ever really taking over.
For the Kings, Khazzouh had 13p/8r/3s and Thornton 18 points and 4 steal – his only slight being the 0-5 3pt effort. Jason Cadee scored 13 but shot 1-8 3pt.
Hey but let’s finish this with a last word from Duane Bailey. A development player in 2013, he earned himself a full deal and was one of the more popular dudes on the team. It’s never gonna be an easy call to cut someone like that. Bailey took it well, though, and we wish him the best for the future.
Stocks:
Movin’ On Up Like Curtis Mayfield – Everybody sing one for Corey:
Goin’ Down Slow Like Howlin’ Wolf – Catfish Jackson was all up for the battle with Julian Kazzouh but fouls ruined his day. He had his fifth and final early in the fourth, a big shame because he’s been a monster in the second half of games so far and we got almost none of that here coz he was on the bench most of the time. A couple soft fouls and some inexperienced ones off the ball as he got too caught up in the grind, only playing 9:42 mins. With more Catfish this game could have been much more comfortable. Live and learn.
Key Stat
45 combined turnovers in this game. Oh, and a combined 6 of 44 shooting from three and 44 personal fouls called. It wasn’t quite a basketball clinic, we’ll say that much.
Play of the Game
First possession of the game, Corey Webster with the tough shot over Tom Garlepp. Swish.
Season Standings
Cedric Jackson – 7
Charles Jackson – 7
Tom Abercrombie 6
Several on 3
Match MVP Points
Corey Webster – 3
Tom Abercrombie – 2
Mika Vukona – 1
Tai Wesley – 1
Up Next
Wednesday, 7.30pm: NZ Breakers vs Cairns Taipans, Vector Arena (NZT)