Perth Wildcats 75-73 NZ Breakers

So who was the smartass who put the NZ Breakers, Kiwis rugby league team and Wellington Phoenix all in Perth on the same weekend?

The two finalists from last season, the two teams who’ve shared the last seven titles. It’s a rivalry as they made sure to sell us on the telly but it’s not really the heated, hated thing they implied. This is a rivalry all about shared success. The Wildcats have copped a few changes since then, losing Matt Knight and Jermaine Beal most of all, though they’re arguably more stable in the playing group than the Breakers and all their switch-ups.

It was the same starting five as in game one for the Breakers, further suggesting this might be the look full-time with Corey Webster another week closer to 100% and still playing off the bench. Somebody had to after all with the dudes they’ve got. And while Kirk Penney looked a little rusty against Melbourne, here he was sharp from the get-go with his fingerprints all over the ball and a couple of three-pointers so sweet the ball had already been inbounded before the net realised it’d been disturbed. He’d have 8 points by the end of 1Q.

The shooting was on fire from the lot of them, actually. Every starter got on the board in the first quarter (though Pledger’s points came from the free throw line) and Webster came in and drilled his first attempt from deep. But typically there were some silly options in there that bled through, like Corey shooting from damn near half-court late in the shot clock. The Breaks got a solid lead early in things yet they couldn’t stop the Wildcats working their way back thanks to the likes of Jesse Wagstaff and if Kernich-Drew had made his open shot from the corner then it’d have been tied at the quarter mark. He didn’t, Breakers up 25-22.

Isaih Tueta got his first NBL points from the FT line after he showed a bit of aggression in storming to the hoop and taking a big ol’ shove in the process. But Perth quickly tied things up with a bit of mechanical thinking. Casey Prather in the paint, posting up on Kirk Penney for a couple buckets. Then they switched Abercrombie onto him and it was the same result only with a bonus shot to boot. 7 points in less than two minutes for the American.

He’s not that big, Prather, but he’s quick and he’s long and strong. Too strong for Penney to hold him off and two quick for Pledger, who copped and and-one himself. 7 points in two minutes, sure, but he didn’t stop there. Prather scored 14 in the quarter, largely by doing the same thing too. Meanwhile the Breakers found themselves trying to manufacture offence out of Pledge and Mitchell and that wasn’t working too well. Rob Loe showed a couple touches but as bad as anything was that their best defenders, Mika and Akil, both got in some foul trouble – Mitchell had two PFs in less than six first half minutes. And Penney, ah, didn’t have the best second quarter.

So Coach Henare went to Finn Delany and the kid bagged four quick points. Bang-bang, but the Breakers trailed by 11 at the break having scored only 11 points in the second quarter – not near good enough in an otherwise high scoring game. 3/13 shooting in 2Q.

Henare blamed it on a lack of physicality and that was certainly part of it. A dude backs you up under the basket, best way to stop him is by getting rough with him. You could see in the third that the Breakers were fighting harder for those rebounds, getting tough inside and thus also earning space on the perimeter for their shooters who made things count. Abercrombie, Penney and Woodside all hitting threes as the Breaks cut the lead back down to just two points when Trevor Gleeson finally walked out and called a T/O. Third quarters have been a problem for the Wildcats in both games so far, by the way.

Notably, Pledger and Mitchell played a lot of minutes in that third, which obviously helps with the physicality. And Mitchell, after a really poor first couple quarters came out and made plays at both ends. Once the tone had been set, with Perth not able to rely on those same looks, suddenly it was the Cats that looked like they were trying too hard to push the pass, or waiting too long for the ideal look. Rob Loe stepped up and sunk a long one for the first lead in ages (GET LOOOOOE!). Breakers up 59-57 entering the last frame. What do ya know, aye?

But then the fourth started like a bucket of piss with six quick Wildcat points enhanced by two Tueta turnovers. Bro, that ain’t the way to win a full-time contract. He was very quickly hooked. Except Woodside threw one over his shoulder for McKay to finish on the break and Perth had scored eight straight. That streak ended with a Webster jumper, Corey then stripping Prather at the other end and finally looking sharp. Pledger’s paint presence was a help too – from his off boards to a sharp block on McKay.

Pledger’s impact was huge and he’d have been a runaway fave for the three MVP points here had he not also shown some sloppy handles and a bit of awful shooting. But some of the hustle plays were magnificent. Momentum turning things. His dunk tied the game at 70-all and he had the chance off a floater to make it 72-all as well. Despite the presence of Penney and/or Webster for pretty much the entire time, it was Abercrombie that was relied upon to keep that score ticking over. Webster was being guarded by Damien Martin and there wasn’t enough room to scratch his own nose let alone flip up a jump shot.

Guts then that Abercrombie missed a three with 34 seconds left. Not a good look but they needed to get a shot up. Prather was fouled in the backcourt after the miss and once he’d made his free throws the Breakers needed something special. Rob Loe picked up a pair of offensive rebounds but had to do it himself the second time after Webster and Woodside had missed threes. Quick dunk and Jarrod Kenny missed a couple FTs to give NZB a shot (cheers, lad). Webster picked up the ball and cut towards the hoop but his flipper rimmed away and a stray hand from somewhere on the tip was no good and possibly late anyway. No timeout didn’t help.

The Breakers seem to do things by committee things season, again Tom Abercrombie top scored and he only scored 12. Frankly, Webster or Penney need to be taking over games like Prather did – Prather who ended up with 29 points and anyone who can score like that in this league is an absolute gun. After making his first two shots, both triples, Penney ended 3/9 for 11 points. He missed two crucial free throws near the end and if Kirk is missing free throws then maybe it really is contagious. But the thing is they shot well on the whole from the line. Pledge was 4/4. Webster scored 9 points, 4/11 from the field and 1/7 from deep. Yikes. On though there is that it’s a credit that their two best scorers did nothing of note and NZB were still close. Another thought is that with their track records it’s safe to assume they’ll get better. Get both those two each scoring 15-18 points per game and suddenly this team is very, very formidable.

On Alex Pledger, he shot 2/8 from the field and he needs to be better there but his 10 rebounds/8 points were the catalyst for the third quarter. He got almost 25 minutes in this one, after playing 15 and change in game one. Shows you how effective he was that his minutes swung that drastically. Another one is Mika, who scored 7 (2/3 FG) with 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Too many turnovers though a few came from passes forced inside to Mika on the run and those are tough. Probably not passes we needed to be making. Mika had a solid game. Woodside did as well though talk of him being an improvement over Cedric as a shooter, like, they might be true but we ain’t seeing it yet. Moved the ball well though, 6 pts/6 ast/4 reb. Robbie Down-Loe only got in 14 mins, he was a little underused but that was down to him getting exposed at the defensive end a couple times. Very effective offensively though, so long as he can hit those threes mate, he’s a weapon.

What an odd game. Breakers lead after 1Q, Wildcats after 2Q, Breakers after 3Q and Wildcats after 4Q. Jesse Wagstaff logged 16 points too just in case you were picturing a Prather Solo Showcase. Gotta spare some special credit for a dude off the Perth bench though. Jarrod Kenny may have left the game open with those missed FTs but he was a hound all game. Top level defence, 9pts/3 reb/2 ast all in a supporting role.

Both teams would have felt like they threw this game away twice over and the Breakers are the ones left to suffer that. But most teams don’t have Mr Martin hassling your best shooters. Most games won’t see Penney and Webster both off their stuff (both were injured in preseason and neither looks a hundy). Most games they can count on a much better second quarter. Most games Kirk Penney won’t miss valuable late free throws. This was a two-pointer once it was all cut and dried. A shot here or a shot there, that was the difference. Away in Perth… it’s one that got away, sure. It’s also a promising one, buried underneath that.

Stocks:

Movin’ On Up Like Curtis Mayfield – Ah, a couple of names here. Akil Mitchell showed some offensive touch which he needed to do. Even if he played a smaller role here he at least proved he’ll have his big days in the future. Alex Pledger earned plenty more minutes on what was a fine day for him and he’s probably the main candidate for the upsies. Finn Delany’s rapid attack deserves a shout too, as does he personally for being the depth guy that made the ten for the match.

Goin’ Down Slow Like Howlin’ Wolf – It’s Penney and Webster. They have to be better than 7/20 – even if that percentage isn’t better than they need to be shooting more. What’d be an option is giving them more shared court time as they got in the fourth here. Webster might need to start playing off the dribble a bit more too, there are a lot of catch-and-shoot guys in this team that aren’t all complimenting each other like they could.

Key Stat

Perth scored 40 points from in the paint. Not sure if the Breakers really have an answer to a guy in Prather’s position going to work like that.

Play of the Game

This is what they were dealing with from Prather. Filthy.

Season MVP Standings

Tom Abercrombie – 5

Alex Pledger – 3

Mika Vukona – 2

Match MVP Points

Alex Pledger – 3

Tom Abercrombie – 2

Ben Woodside – 1

Up Next

Thursday, 7.30pm: NZ Breakers vs Sydney Kings, North Shore Events Centre (NZT)