The Breakers Have Rediscovered Their Mana, Aotearoa Rejoice
Scream it from the bell towers: the Breakers are back. We’re halfway through the NBL season and this is not a drill. The New Zealand Breakers are winning games and playing lockdown defence. They’re fun to watch. They’ve got some superb imports. The new coach is doing a brilliant job not only with the basketball Xs and Os but also with how he speaks and what he wants this team to represent. There are actual home games and the fans are loving it. Everyone looks like they’re pulling in the same direction, supporting their teammates and embracing the support they’re getting/earning back.
There was a time when this was the norm for the Breakers but it’s been a few brutal, and at times exasperating, years since that was last the case. But rejoice. The dark ages have ended and the light shines upon us once more.
This is a far cry from where they were last season, seemingly at rock bottom after a gruelling campaign spent mostly on the road in which everyone looked miserable and they didn’t perform anywhere near their capabilities. A 5-23 record by the end of it... they’d never been worse. That’s a 17.9% winning record. They finished dead last on the ladder. Wooden-spooners. To go from that to this in such a space of time is pretty incredible.
Especially since it wasn’t just one bad season. The Breakers changed ownership late in the 2017-18 season, which was also the last time that they made the NBL finals. Including that season the team had made the playoffs in eight of the previous eleven seasons including four championships. Since then they’ve missed out four years in a row with a combined record of 44-76. There was one year in which they came close, that was when Scotty Hopson inspired a late season surge only for the team to miss out on postseason basketball via the points percentage tiebreaker. But mostly it’s been weak sauce and little else.
Not only on the court either. The new ownership thing was a culture shock on a few counts and it led to a huge amount of staff turnover and some pretty debatable ethics. This isn’t the article to recount all the drama but suffice to say there was a lot of it. But it’s not like there’s only one way to run a basketball team. And the thing about failures is that they give you great opportunities to learn and grow.
There are a lot of Breakers articles in The Niche Cache’s archives (check the tag history) and a lot of them have gone in on the shambolic state of this franchise over these past few years. However the most recent piece was from the offseason and it was full of cautious optimism as the team appeared to be making some pleasant course corrections. Positive signs. Of course positive signs are one thing, positive outcomes are another and a recent history of inadequacy doesn’t exactly buy you the benefit of the doubt. Yet here we are and the Breakers are back.
Okay, yeah, they have lost their two most recent games (and both at home)... but those were against arch rivals the Perth Wildcats and the NBL’s reigning champion Sydney Kings. Despite coming out on the losing end both times those games will prove invaluable down the line for the playoff atmosphere that they sparked up. Because that playoff drought is going to end this season, mark these words, and there are three major reasons for that: a renewed defensive identity, a very impressive head coach, and some top notch import recruitment.
Renewed Defensive Identity
The Breakers aren’t merely a good defensive team, they’re the best defensive team in the competition by a solid margin. Even after those two recent losses the Breaks are still only averaging 78.4 points per game against them. Tasmania are second at 81.0, Cairns are third at 84.4. It’s not even close. In 16 games they have held their opponents under 80 points on nine occasions (all wins, by the way).
Opponents are shooting 42% from the field against them - only Sydney have a better mark (40.7%)... but the Kings are allowing three-point shooters to strike at 34.2% compared to the Breakers who are the best in the NBL allowing just 30.8% from opposition triples. NZB also allow the second fewest field goal attempts per game while Sydney allow the second most. That’s because while the Breakers aren’t amazing at rebounding or racking up steals and blocks... they’re pretty good at all those things. There’s no weakness to how they defend. They stay focussed, they take care of the one-percenters, and everybody chips in.
Obviously the main blokes take care of the grunt work but it flows the entire way down the roster to where Sam Timmins, Dan Fotu, and Alex McNaught all have Defensive Ratings under 100 – guys who only play sparingly and could be forgiven for taking it easy in garbage time exposures. But not for this team.
They do foul a lot. Breakers opponents shoot the third most free throws per game and that’s a definite risk come any potential playoff game. If one or two of their main blokes get into foul trouble then worries may ensue because even though the identity of the team will remain, the levels would naturally drop. NZB get a lot of crucial mahi out of their three imports in particular. Not that you’d want to change that tendency because that defensive intensity is the wellspring for so much of their finest basketball - just gotta hope they don’t get a strict refereeing team when it matters most.
Here’s the craziest thing about all of this sudden defensive prowess: last season the Breakers had the worst defence in the NBL. They had the worst perimeter protection. They allowed the highest proportion of opponent shots to make their way through that pesky little basket. From 88.5 points per 78.4 points per game. From 35.9% from three pointers to 30.8% from three pointers. From 48.1% on opponent field goals to 42.0% from opponent field goals. In the space of one offseason they’ve gone from abysmal to fantastic. You just don’t see that.
Impressive Head Coaching
How much credit for this rapid resurgence has to fall upon the shoulders of Mody Maor? Somewhere in the vicinity of ‘lots’ and ‘most of it’. This surely doesn’t happen without his relentless standards, doing interviews for the telly broadcasts with his team up by 15+ talking about how he’s not happy because they let the other team score more than 40 points in a half.
The NBL is a very strong league, one of the best going around outside of the NBA and EuroLeague, and one of the its strongest aspects is the calibre of its role players. This is a league build upon hard-edged Aussie/Kiwi battlers filling out the rosters, fellas who may not be able to make that clutch jumper but they’ll for damn sure get a hand in your face as you throw one up yourself. You have to play hard and match the physicality (if not top it). You have to box out and make your defensive switches. All of those things. The other team is going to so you’d better be as well, otherwise you’ll be watching the losses tally up.
The Breakers were not doing those things under Dan Shamir’s coaching. Not regularly enough, at least. We were assured from the start that Shamir was this mastermind basketball coach (“the Jewish Jose Mourinho”) but all we saw from his teams was a lot of losing. He’s had success elsewhere, sweet as, he’ll probably have more success in the future. This isn’t even really about his technical coaching. His biggest problem was that he never seemed to grasp the culture of Aussie/Kiwi basketball and what worked in Israel didn’t translate to Australia.
Not that he had the easiest gig. There’s nothing like a global pandemic to throw everything out of whack... although don’t go blaming the pandemic for all the Breakers problems. That’s way too easy to do and it ignores the fact that the same trends existed before covid. What the pandemic did was exaggerate existing weaknesses. Like, for example, structural flaws within the organisation (‘Director of Basketball’ lol) and poor recruitment strategy. Things that Shamir was by no means entirely responsible for.
Among the strangest things that this franchise did during that time was they extended Dan Shamir’s contract twice – once was a team option, the other a fresh deal. In fact if it wasn’t for his own family situation and a bit of homesickness then he’d probably be there still. Would things have been different with with a proper season based in Aotearoa? Could he have had the same success that Mody Maor is having now? We never got the chance to find out... but considering how drastically Maor has turning things around it’s hard to argue that the Breakers are in a far superior space with MM calling the shots.
It’s actually quite baffling to think that Maor was the main assistant to Shamir throughout all that madness. For that reason it was kinda strange when it was announced that he’d be succeeding Shamir as head coach. Why would you be chasing continuity after the worst season in franchise history? It’s still not exactly clear why there’s such a disconnect between the team’s (lack of) success when he was an assistant to what they’re doing now with him as head coach. However there are a few theories.
Maor was hyped up as this wild man assistant when he first arrived, the bloke who’d argue passionately with refs – in stark contrast to the colder more calculated Dan Shamir. It was also said that he took a very active approach in mentoring RJ Hampton as the club’s first Next Star. The supposed wildness on the sidelines was mostly just the Breakers in-house media team being silly again but there’s definitely a heart-on-the-sleeve quality to Maor that has had a direct impact on his players. He’s a motivator and a nurturer. He’s able to demand high standards because along with his intensity he’s also personable and energetic. A coach that people enjoy playing for.
And also the man is just a genuine leader. He does all those things whilst conducting himself with the poise and respect required of a guy in his position. He’s got a personality that thrives upon the pressure. He loves it. He exudes the energy that a head coach ought to. Damn, mate, you hear the bloke talk and sometimes you wanna jump through a brick wall for him just from watching on the telly, so imagine how his players feel. He has already ascended to the being the face/voice of the franchise.
On that note, we haven’t heard much outta owner/CEO Matt Walsh lately, have we? That’s because he’s been back in America as he deals with some family issues. Best wishes to the Walsh whanau there. As far as owners go, Walsh has been incredibly hands-on. He’s taken the majority influence over player recruitment and commercial directions. Walshy is not the general manager but he might as well be, plus he tends to do the majority of the media-fronting mahi too.
Without Walsh around, Maor has taken over many of those reigns and has been superb. The focus is clearly on winning basketball games right now and that’s mostly what they’ve been doing. Off-field shenanigans have been almost non-existent. Just look at how well he handled this question after the team’s twitter team inexplicably decided it was a good idea to tease a club legend pre-game, leading to Corey Webster absolutely dominating them on the way to a Wildcats victory...
It’s hard not to feel like a lot of Maor’s priorities are in direct response to the failures he oversaw as an assistant. Defence is a team game, it’s about protecting your weaknesses and putting in a shift for the bros. In emphasising defence he’s emphasising players sacrificing for the cause rather than prioritising themselves and their careers. This after three years of Next Stars and This Dude’s Gonna Make The NBA yarns. Mody Maor’s Breakers aren’t a stepping stone, they’re the full focus. Future career paths will take care of themselves as long as the team keeps winning.
He’s also emphasised a return to the club’s traditionally kiwi values, seeking to build a team that represents the fans it plays for. This after three years of flirting with international press coverage, trying to build an NBA-style gameday experience, and choosing foreign prospects over reliable locals. Remember when they let Shea Ili go after signing RJ Hampton to eat into his minutes and Ili went on to grow into one of the very best players (and personalities) in the league? Yeah... whoops.
Under Maor, the team have recruited the likes of Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’Afa, Tom Vodanovich, and Dan Fotu. Not only that but they’ve re-established their ideals as a New Zealand basketball team. Which kinda just means playing the game the way that the Patron Saint of Kiwi Basketball did: Mika Vukona. Perhaps the definitive Breaker, one of the heartiest Tall Blacks to ever wear the singlet, and a dude who was also Steven Adams’ favourite player - connecting all the dots. Side note: giving RJ Hampton the 14 shirt that Vukona used to wear was hugely symbolic of that era of Breakers misdirection.
What’s great about Mody Maor is that he said from the outset that re-establishing the kiwi core of the team was a priority and then he actually went and did it. Good yarns out of the Breakers, there’s been no shortage of those. Good actions out of the Breakers... now that’s another issue entirely. But not only has Maor proved as good as his word, he’s also gotten the outcomes to back it up. He made this an Aotearoa team again and they instantly got good. Well what do ya know?
Top Notch Import Recruitment
Of course, the three best players in the team are all Americans. Barry Brown Jr, Dererk Pardon and Jarell Brantley. But that’s the way it’s supposed to be – it means they nailed their recruitment for once. There hasn’t been a single import player to re-sign with the Breakers for a second season since the ownership change despite the fact that a few of them did stick around in the competition with Australian clubs. Maybe they’ll be able to retain one or more of this crop, time shall tell, but for the first time in a long time at least they may actually both want to and be able to.
An import has led the Breakers in scoring in 13 out of 16 games so far (and also nine times on the rebound counts). That’s what you want. However it has to be said that these three blokes aren’t only talented players, they also set the tone. They play hard and they’ve completely bought into the team-first mentality. When your best players are leading the way it’s easy for everyone else to follow.
Dererk Pardon is a frontcourt beast who goes hard at both ends of the floor, an absolute nightmare to play against. Dude just barges folks out of the way for lay-ups and rebounds... his physicality alone was probably a major reason why Sydney Kings coach claimed that playing the Breakers was like playing the All Blacks rugby team. He meant it as an insult but it sounds a lot like an accidental compliment. Pardon, per Spatial Jam, has a net rating of +40.2 which is by far the best in the league for anyone who’s played more than 100 minutes. 141.3 offensive rating and 101.0 defensive rating. When he’s on the court this team peaks in all aspects.
Barry Brown Jr is averaging 20.9 points per game. He’s the third top scorer in the league and he’s doing so despite playing predominantly off the bench. Many imports would scoff at that idea but Brown has taken it all in his stride (probably helps that he’s still second in overall minutes across the roster). BBJ has scored 20+ on nine occasions, peaking with a thrilling 31 points in 24 minutes against South East Melbourne at the start of December. He’s fast and athletic and he gets to the rim, a killer on the pick and roll. He’s also hitting a mean 36% from deep. Old mate is a scorer with a great attitude. What more can you ask for?
Jarrell Brantley, meanwhile, is a beacon of efficiency. He’s shooting 52.6% from the field, 39.7% from three pointers, and 75% from the free throw line. Chuck in some mint rebounding and there you go. Nobody who’s taken as many or more triples as Brantley’s 63 attempts is hitting them at a better rate. Nobody in the entire league. He’s also tenth in the NBL in true shooting percentage (62.8%) which is wild because he’s only fourth on his own team. Pardon leads the NBL in that stat. Cam Gliddon and Rob Loe also sneak onto the list with lesser minutes.
Three superb imports on top of a reinvigorated cultural identity, a renewed emphasis on defensive foundations, and an impressive first-time head coach. Apparently that’s the formula. It’s taken a few years for this club to come back around to those ideals but here we are now and it’s a bloody joy. Because on top of all these other words of praise there’s another thing to say about the 2022-23 New Zealand Breakers: they’re fun. So much fun. From the highlight plays to the personalities to the high standards to the sheer uncontainable energy. Long may the merriment continue.
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