Previewing An Unprecedented (But Exciting) Aotearoa Breakers Season
It’s taken a lot of waiting for this NBL season to finally swing around and even as it does the Breakers still have to wait a little longer as they didn’t have a scheduled game in round one. All part of the juggling of various state protocols, trying to do this thing in the midst of a global pandemic, you know? There’s frankly never been a season with challenges anything close to what this one will throw up but that’s the way it’s gotta be so that’s the way it is. The Breakers aren’t complaining. They’ve got big dreams and a roster capable of living up to them. And after the world’s longest offseason they’ll be chomping at the metaphorical bit to play some damn basketball.
The Logistics
Last season the NBL began in early October and ended (slightly prematurely) in mid-March. This season the NBL didn’t even tip off until mid-January. Already that’s drastically different from ordinary transmission – think about how last time the Tall Blacks were away at the World Cup during preseason and then the Breakers season got underway later than the rest of the league because they still wanted to jet across to the States for some NBA x NBL preseason jingles. With a new coach trying to implement new ideals, no less. It was carnage to Dan Shamir’s preparations and perhaps that also had something to do with all the injuries that piled up in the first half of the campaign too. Dunno.
Now compare that to this preseason when instead of an overload of basketball it’s been pure absence. No Tall Blacks games. No trip to America. The Breaker fellas didn’t participate in Aotearoa’s NBL Showdown either – the only folks from the team involved were free agents who had already left the club and, curiously, their player development bloke: Rashid Al-Kaleem... who was promptly injured in game one and missed the rest of the competition. So a fella like Tom Abercrombie hasn’t played a proper game of basketball for literally eleven months (All Star Celebrity Games don’t count). The flipside is that the team have had way longer than usual to train together as a full unit, giving a tactician like Shamir a golden opportunity to impart his visions... although if the lads seem rusty to start with then you can probably guess why.
That’s without even getting to the elephant in the room which is that the team will be based in Australia for at least the first half of the season, if not the whole bloody thing. The hope is that some sorta Trans-Tasman travel bubble will emerge soon enough which would allow the Breakers to play home games again but obviously we can’t predict if/when that’ll happen. The entire schedule is going to be a fluid, evolving thing. Originally the Breakers were based in Melbourne where they were due to play their first nine games... then new state restrictions happened and they had gapped it for a Tasmania base instead. It’s all very confusing but at least most players have been able to bring their families with them.
The NBL is still planning to finish the season in June despite all the schedule shuffling going on. That logic requires some heavy assumptions, or blind faith, but we might as well go with it. Again, everything’s flexible this year so if they don’t finish by then they’ll probably just keep going. Who cares. The biggest of those assumptions is that state lockdowns will all be done within a month or two so we’ll see how that goes.
In the meantime there’s gonna be a ‘NBL Cup’ thingamajig going down for four weeks in Melbourne in February-March where all nine teams will amass in Victoria to play 36 games in a competition within a competition. Everyone plays everyone once, three points per win with the most points winning the prize-money, all games also count towards regular season win-loss records. Three rounds take place before the NBL Cup gets underway although the Breakers did not have a game in round one.
The Past
To say that last season was a rollercoaster would be putting it lightly. The first half of the season was so outrageously stocked with drama that Netflix woulda chucked the script in the bin for being to excessive. Some of it was accidental, some of it was reckless, some of it was just plain dumb. All of it was disruptive as the team struggled badly... then when things were simplified and a few fellas got healthy again and some of those distractions were removed suddenly the team played like contenders. 4-10 in the first half of the season, 11-3 in the second half. Clearly we’re hoping the 2021 version of the team is a lot closer to what we saw in that second half.
An Incomplete List Of Some Of The 2019-20 Dramas:
Kevin Braswell made redundant as head coach, leading to a lawsuit and the new coach being referred to as ‘Director of Basketball’ presumably for legal reasons
General Manager Dillon Boucher resigns a month out from the start of the season. Assistant coach Mike Fitchett resigns in the airport on the way back from Oklahoma City only days before the season
Corey Webster requests a release from his contract in order to pursue an offer in Turkey. That request was denied amidst owner/CEO Matt Walsh admitting to calling him (“statistically”) the worst starting two-guard in the league the previous season
Brandon Ashley inexplicably wears an unnamed #23 jersey for the home opener despite that number being retired for CJ Bruton. RJ Hampton also given the #14 which is expected to be retired for Mika Vukona (though tbf he was still playing at the time)
Glen Rice Jr is signed as injury cover despite numerous red flags about his past violent behaviour, including at Hapoel Holon where Dan Shamir was his coach
Owner/CEO Matt Walsh fined and suspended for verbally confronting the NBL commissioner during a game, in view of the entire crowd, over officiating concerns
Glen Rice Jr is suspended by the league after just two games when it’s revealed he was facing a court hearing after a late-night mid-week assault while out on the town. Somehow the club managed to keep that GRJr news from leaking until two days later when he’d already gotten on a plane to Perth and had been planning to play in that game until the NBL stepped in – Rice turned up with his game gear to the arena before the suspension was announced
Tom Vodanovich overindulges in pills and beverages on the plane back from Perth, causing a disruption, and police are there waiting for him when he gets off the plane
Glen Rice Jr is indefinitely suspended by the club, who promise to keep him around and support him as he faces his court proceedings and deals with his personal issues... then they immediately throw him back in the team as soon as the league lift their suspension, where he takes an overwhelming number of shots despite only having had one training session since being reinstated (the Breakers losing that game by 18 points away to Cairns). Glen Rice Jr is later charged with breaking his court-enforced curfew and is cut from the Breakers roster
RJ Hampton leaves to return to the USA with injury at a time when the Breakers were desperately playing for their playoff hopes, despite admitting he could have played if it had been “life or death”
And yeah that’s not even the complete list. But it was arguably injuries that were the most disruptive thing and once guys like Scotty Hopson and Finn Delany got back to full fitness it was a different story down the home stretch. Incredibly the team only missed the playoffs by a tiebreaker. Goes to show what this team could be capable of without all the dumb stuff, especially with what’s arguably an improved roster this time around.
By the way, if you’re wondering what Glen Rice Jr’s been up to...
The Roster
Ironically the uber-offseason meant this didn’t really need to be the case for once but the Breakers got their major signings done nice and early. In comes Tai Webster after a few years in Europe, the starting Tall Blacks point guard back in Aotearoa to join his brother at the club in a savvy bit of post-pandemic recruitment. And then also Lamar Patterson switching from Brisbane. That one came at the expense of Scotty Hopson but it was matter of not wanting to wait while Hopson in turn waited to see what was happening with the G-League and various other international offers. Patterson is basically as close to Scotty Hopson as you can get without being Scotty Hopson. Two time reigning All-NBL First Teamer. Shouldn’t any drop off there at all, in fact with Tai Webster around the overall roster is stronger around him.
Hopson has instead signed with Melbourne United (almost four months after the Patterson deal was announced) so that’s a bit of a bummer after he was so goddamned good last season but you can see what the Breakers’ plan was. After such a disrupted start to the previous campaign with the new coach and Tall Blacks duties and various injuries not to mention the staff exodus and other off-court dramas they wanted everything in place ASAP. Can’t argue with that.
Since then they’ve also added a second import in American big fella Colton Iverson who is seven feet tall, 31 years old, drafted by the Indiana Pacers back in 2013 (53rd overall) though he never played in the NBA... instead he’s had a nomadic career through Europe – which unsurprisingly includes Israel. By accounts he seems like a smooth fit within this team, somebody who’ll fit in and do a job which is all they need at that centre position.
Elsewhere guys like Tom Vodanovich and Jordan Ngatai were released and have signed with rival teams. In their places come Dan Trist and Rasmus Bach. Two uninteresting additions... borderline weird additions to tell the truth. A couple Aussie fellas (well, Bach is Danish but he counts as a local because he grew up in Oz) added when there were still available local fellas like Hyrum Harris or even the upgraded version of Tom Vodanovich that we saw in the NBL Showdown where he was MVP... honestly cannot figure that one out. It’s not as if Trist or Bach have huge untapped potential or anything. Or maybe they do and we’ll see the genius in those deals as the games get underway. Having said that, Vodanovich and Ngatai barely played last time and Trist and Bach won’t be expected to get big minutes either. We’re talking the end of the roster here. A roster that reads like this:
Tai Webster
Finn Delany
Colton Iverson
Corey Webster
Tom Abercrombie
Rasmus Bach
Lamar Patterson
Rob Loe
Dan Trist
Jarrad Weeks
Then to go with them we’ve got three new development players and if it was disappointing to see those last two regular roster spots used on non-kiwis then at least we’re finally back to the business of using the DPs on up and coming New Zealand talent. Taine Murray is one of them, he’s gonna go around with the Breakers this one year before he moves to the University of Virginia where he was heavily recruited. Then there’s Isaac Davidson who is on the other side of his uni journey (he played four years at Sonoma State) and who looked excellent at the NBL Showdown himself. Showing off some fine offensive playmaking with the kind of skill-set which apparently earns you three-year deals. The first two as a development player, the third as a full roster member if he goes good. There’s also Kyrin Galloway, an Aussie youngster signed on a hybrid DP contract too... so we’ll have to wait and see how much we get to see from all three of these lads this year. There’s one less roster spot in the league this time for covid-related financial reasons (the third import spot) so there might be more opportunities for the development dudes than usual.
Speaking of...
Yeah I dunno. The Breakers’ media strategies have been odd at best the last couple years. They’re great at all the hype and hoopla (if you’re into that kind of thing... it can get pretty tacky) but bad news still seems to be brushed under the carpet like we’re just not supposed to notice that a guy they made a big deal about bringing in a year ago has simply disappeared? Terry Li’s presence never made any sense to begin with. What’s the point in developing your own future imports when there’s already an overflow of them around the world? Ah well that chapter’s closed now, apparently.
The Starting Five
Okay so how do you fit all these jokers into the same team? Clearly something had to give and that something was not the pit of the avocado that Corey Webster was trying to clear out. Caused him to slice his hand with the knife and he’ll therefore miss the start of the season – one reason why the Breakers won’t be too upset that they’re not playing in round one. That incident also had some confusing media sentiments as the stoical Dan Shamir suddenly emerged with a stand-up comedy routine...
For the record, Webby’s clarified he wasn’t making guacamole. Just eating an avocado regular styles. Sometimes those little bastards put up a fight, you know?
But that doesn’t affect the starting five because it had already been decided that Corey Webster would drop to the bench in a sixth man role - releasing his inner Lou Williams or Jamal Crawford. Sixth Man of the Year potential right there, friends. Colton Iverson’s arrival also means that Rob Loe will have to be content with a spot in that second unit which is going to give this Breakers team some serious firepower to inject into the contest as their starters tire. Here’s how that roster looks loosely whipped into a depth chart...
PG – Tai Webster | Jarrad Weeks
SG – Lamar Patterson | Corey Webster | Taine Murray
SF – Tom Abercrombie | Rasmus Bach | Isaac Davidson
PF – Finn Delany | Dan Trist | Kyrin Galloway
C – Colton Iverson | Rob Loe
It’ll be pretty interesting to see how Dan Shamir balances his rotations around that crew. He has a clear starting five but you’d think Corey Webster’s in there to close most nights, right? But then who misses out? There are probably seven players in there who form a unit as strong as any in the league however there’s also a fear that maybe the depth at the back end of the roster drops off quite a bit... granted there are three highly-touted DPs hanging around as well. And fair play to Jarrad Weeks who has been quietly excellent in his unassuming way throughout his Breakers tenure so far. It’s a tricky balance for Shamir but these are the puzzles that coaches like to have.
Quick mention for Finn Delany. There’s been chat already from the big wigs about this maybe being Delany’s final year with the club because the lad’s star is simply shining too bright. Considering the NBL’s growing standing in world basketball that’s saying a fair bit... it feels like the last three years have all begun with hopes of a huge Finn Delany breakout and he’s made steady progress but injuries really held him back last time when that surge felt most imminent. Fire it up now though. He’s fit and healthy on a much more stable team and old mate’s raring to go.
The Expectations
Hmm. On paper this team should be a championship contender. The talent is there for sure, they basically have 60% of the Tall Blacks starting five (if not 80%) not to mention two extremely well suited imports. Dan Shamir is in his second year in charge which should make everything a whole lot smoother and we have to remember just how well this team did in the second half of last season when guys were healthy and the distractions disappeared.
It’s notable that despite heaps of chat about how successful the RJ Hampton experiment was and how the club wouldn’t hesitate to do it again... there’s not been another Next Star addition. As awesome as the RJ Hampton association was the fact is that the Breakers were played better after he left. Trying to accommodate big minutes for a teenager is tough to do, especially for a coach like Shamir who seems to be big on the system and all that. A looser style and maybe it works better but that ain’t this. So no Next Star is probably a positive as far as the coach is concerned. Instead this is a massively experienced roster stacked with long-time pros and a whole bunch of internationals and it’s a team that can beat anyone in this league.
But will they? Because despite all the good vibes we also have to acknowledge that this was a volatile franchise last season and a lot of those dramas were self-inflicted (mostly by management) and it’d be silly to assume that everything’s gonna lean towards the best-case scenarios all of a sudden. Mistakes are for learning from but gotta see the evidence before we hand out credit. Also... there are other very good teams with title ambitions too. The Breakers aren’t competing against themselves.
It’s gonna be a funky experience, one way or another. Minimum expectations will be making the semis having missed out last time – any less than that and something’s gone very wrong. Beyond that... mate, let’s not jinx anything.
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