Previewing the Breakers’ 2017-18 NBL Season (With An Open Mind)
The Breakers tip off their new season on Sunday against the Cairns Taipans at Spark Arena. A new season with a blank slate, with refreshed expectations. A new season with three new import players. With a new intake of development players. Yeah mate, bring it on.
Last season was a transitional one in all sorts of ways. Paul Henare took over as head coach and Dillon Boucher as general manager while Cedric Jackson, for the second time, left the club (along with Tai Wesley). Kirk Penney returned as the prodigal shooting guard but his combination with Corey Webster never really took off. Shea Ili was hurt before the season even started, Ben Woodside was hurt early on into it. Corey Webster was never a hundy healthy and he’d be shut down midway through. David Stockton came and went. Akil Mitchell got poked in the eye.
That more or less sums up what we were dealing with in 2016-17. A mind-boggling amount of injuries and just general bad luck combining with a fresh direction for the club meant they were up against hardships the whole way. It was madly frustrating at the time but in hindsight to finish 14-14 and only miss the playoffs by a single place on the ladder – just one win worse off than the 15-13 Taipans who took second place and home-court advantage in the semis (which they wasted in losing back to back to eventual champs Perth Wildcats).
So what’s changed between that season and now? Quite a bit actually. Corey Webster was released to join up with Perth but then he went and did some stuff in the NBA Summer League and signed in Israel instead. There are two new import players, so none of the Dillard/Carter/Mitchell trio is coming back after they almost aaaalmost saved the season last time out. In fact Akil Mitchell has only gone and signed in the NBA for Sean Marks’ Brooklyn Nets, having played a little for their D-League team after leaving NZ. He was given the last spot on the roster so no guarantees he makes it through preseason but, either way, can’t wait to hear them talk about his eye.
In case you were wondering, Kevin Dillard signed in Greece for PAOK Thessaloniki back in July, Paul Carter is currently balling for Chalons-Reims in France, David Stockton returned to the D-League (not gonna call it the G-League, sorry) to play for the Reno Bighorns, a Sacramento Kings affiliate and will probably head to Europe soon while Ben Woodside retired from the game in April with his foot probably still swollen.
Edgar Sosa and DJ Newbill are the fresh imports. Sosa is a 29 year old guard from the Dominican Republic via New York who seems to at least be a decent three point shooter and a strong facilitator, which will take him a long way in this league. As for Newbill, he’s a couple years younger at 25 and the Philly man should bring some defensive edge, a bit of shooting and some positional flexibility. He’ll play where Henare needs him to play – the idea of him, Sosa and Penney all on the court at once sounds enticing.
The only other real introduction to the team has been James Hunter, a kiwi big fella who will backup Alex Pledger and Rob Loe. There are a few new development blokes but mostly this team will be depending on continued improvement from Shea Ili, Jordan Ngatai and Finn Delany, after both looked pretty sharp for the Tall Blacks at the Asia Cup. Each has the potential to do so, especially Ili if he can develop a consistent way of scoring, but if they don’t step up then the depths of the roster look a bit shabby, to be honest. Rob Loe is another one who can hit strides after last season. Cut down the fouls so he can stay on the court and he’ll make some shots for sure.
However there is one worry about the age of the main blokes. Edgar Sosa will likely be the youngest starter while Mika Vukona is 35 now and Kirk Penney turns 37 in November. That’s not as much of a deal for Penney who’ll still be able to drop down those catch and shoot oppos when he’s in his seventies but Mika hurls himself around a lot, as we all well know. He’s fit as hell right now having taken the whole offseason off though so, like… do you wanna be the one to tell him he’s heading for the decline? Coz he’s just as likely to bounce right back with a massive season. Given that he’s probably still the best defender on the roster, that’d be rather nice for the team’s outlook.
NZ BREAKERS 2016-17 ROSTER:
Tommy Abercrombie, Finn Delany, Dan Fotu (D), James Hunter, Shea Ili, Rob Loe, DJ Newbill (I), Mitch Newton (D), Jordan Ngatai, Kirk Penney, Alex Pledger, Derone Ruakawa (D), Edgar Sosa (I) & Mika Vukona.
Departures: Corey Webster, Akil Mitchell, Paul Carter, Kevin Dillard, Ben Woodside, Isaih Tueta
Obviously there’s a lot depending on how well Sosa and Newbill can play, fitting into this team and helping them win games. But every team is dependent on their imports – the imports are usually the best players. It just seems like the idea that the Breakers haven’t added much else thus they’re only getting worse is a bit of a stretch. This is the second season for a new coach. There’s player and tactical continuity that didn’t exist last season, plus you really can’t overstate how much they were rattled by injuries last season. Lingering injuries, freak injuries, all kinds of injuries. Try telling Kirk Penney and Alex Pledger, the only two players to appear in every game last season, that being able to roll with a regular rotation all season won’t enormously help things.
And the room for decline which does exist with the Breakers can easily be balanced out and then some by the room for progression from Rob Loe in particular, but also the youngblood trio of Ngatai, Delany and Ili.
Plus Newbill gives them something they haven’t had for a while as a dependable defensive guard who can also score prominently. That’s gonna help immensely – seven of the last eight NBL MVPs have been point guards and the Breakers have been burnt by most of them before. Losing Akil Mitchell’s rebounding doesn’t help but that’s another area where Rob Loe needs to get more involved. It’s pretty exciting to think of the possibilities.
To be fair, every team thinks they’re gonna be better each season and it’s not like there are any extra wins to go around. Every win one team gains is a loss for another. The 36ers should drop off without Jerome Randle but Melbourne United are gonna be frightening with Casey Prather added to Casper Ware, Chris Goulding and the rest of them. Perth will always be one of the favourites and the defending champs are odds on again but what’s if the Sydney Kings can put a full season together this time? The Breakers can’t only get better compared to themselves, they need to get better compared to everyone else as well.
And who’s to say they won’t? First game of the season, mate, we get to be as optimistic as we wanna be.
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