Brisbane Bullets 88-82 NZ Breakers

Starting 1-3 is not such a big deal, at this stage. Already having played away to Perth and Brissie, plus copping a rampant Sydney team at home, it hasn’t been an easy start for the Breakers. The four teams they’ve played are the four top teams on the table but yeah, the table doesn’t matter for a few more weeks yet. It’s still figuring itself out.

This was a better performance from the team. They were able to dig their way out of a terrible hole in the third quarter and they were still in it going down the stretch in the fourth. But Brisbane had a couple too many playmakers and old problems resurfaced that held the Breakers back – specifically free throws.

The good news is that Kirk Penney was a lot better after being called out in the last FBR. The bad news is that he needed to be because Corey Webster, while he didn’t get the start, did get a more prominent role (before disappearing onto the bench near the end) and he didn’t get it done.

Penney first. He made a couple early shots as he tends to do but got into foul trouble that meant he played a smaller role in the second quarter. As he returned he continued to shoot at the clip we’ve come to expect from him. 6/10 for the game, 2/4 from 3pt. He scored 14 points all up which trumps the 9.33 he was averaging per game previously. He didn’t hesitate to shoot and while question marks remain about his diminished athleticism, those are always gonna be there. It’d be decent if he could take a few extra shots but then he’ll usually play more than 24 minutes too.

As for Webby, this is the real issue with this side. They still haven’t found a way to get both Webster and Penney clicking together. With Kirk sitting for a few in the second quarter, Webster got to play more time outside of his regular rotation and the reward was a 3/12 shooting night punctuated with long twos. Corey is so good at making space for his shot so you back him to hit those mid-rangers all the same, however the fact that there was nothing for him inside is a worry. He was scoreless in the second half, as the Breakers came back into the game. This is the riddle for Paul Henare: figure out the Corey/Kirk thing.

First quarter it was Daniel Kickert being a massive thorn and scoring 11 points in the frame as the Bullets took a 26-17 lead. He was popping threes and he was getting to the line. Woulda helped if Mika hadn’t fouled him for three FTs but so it goes. Kickert looked immense… but they found a way to stop him. Believe it or not, the dude only scored two more points all game, fouling out with 13. A little frustrating that they can bring Cam Bairstow off the bench to cover him though. That’s a bit of a luxury there. Bairstow scored 14, 6/7 FG with 6 rebs.

.@kicks14 with 11 quick ones in the first #NBL17 pic.twitter.com/NI7OSFbBWx
— NBL (@NBL) October 22, 2016

Speaking of fouls, it was the Breakers who were giving them all up. In the end it was only a 22-18 personal foul count in the end (NZB with the 22) yet in the first quarter it was a 7-2 foul count and the Breakers were called for the first five of them. Henare had a quick word to the refs, he probably had a much louder word to his team in a few timeouts because they eventually figured out that they couldn’t keep sending these dudes to the stripe or they were gonna be buried by it. The Bullets shot 23/27 from FTs, with nine different players shooting ‘em.

Yet while Kickert disappeared, his buddies stepped up. Akil Mitchell threw down a couple hoops to bring the lead back to five but then guys like Jermaine Beal, Torrey Craig and Adam Gibson all chipped in here and there. The Bullets are a strong team. Coached by Andrej Lemanis, assisted by C.J. Bruton, they know what they’re doing and even in this their first season back in the league they’re sure to be contending for those playoffs. Just look at the damn roster. Only Beal played over 30 mins – and he didn’t actually play all that well. But Bairstow’s bench efforts were almost matched by Anthony Petrie scoring 11 points from 5/6 FG shooting and that’s the tale of the second quarter there. Nothing the Breakers could do on defence was enough. The Bullets were getting too close to the hoop, shooting far too well.

That’s their shooting chart from the game. First half on the right, second on the left. Notice how, while there’s still a majority chunk in and around the paint, the shots are more spread out in the second period. The Breakers forced a few more of those X’s in the second that they couldn’t in the first, Alex Pledger played some nice defence in the back half. He’s fast becoming a crucial defender for this team… just a shame his hands let him down on offence as he fluffed a couple of plays late on, along with missing free throws. Then also you see that in the first half, the Bullets were draining the few threes they did shoot. That levelled out eventually, as hot shooting almost always does.

And that’s why it’s so frustrating that they couldn’t close the gap before them. Instead they went into the break down 13 points and staring at a comfortable road loss. Ah but never fear because if there’s one thing these Breakers have shown this season so far is that they won’t back down. Like Tom Petty, you might say. If there’s a play among them all that sums this game up, it was when Tom Abercrombie straight after half time went and missed back to back free throws, only for Mika Vukona to come steaming in, haul in the loose ball rebound, flip it out to TA on the edge and Tommy sunk the three pointer – trading in his missed FTs at a profit.

Mika counted all three on an and-one opportunity after that and then Ben Woodside made a triple and NZB were rolling all of a sudden. They managed to force a few turnovers and misses from Brissie and when Akil put one in with 3:10 to go in the third quarter we were all tied up at 58-all. A Kirk Penney three-pointer gave the Breakers their first lead since early in the 1Q, though an 8-0 run for the Bullets in the mid-fourth gave them a lead they wouldn’t surrender.

Eazy-Duz-it @ajmitchell25 #NBL17 pic.twitter.com/ygG6LVAplb
— NBL (@NBL) October 22, 2016

Dammit though, they might have. If only the Breakers hadn’t shot 9/19 from the free throw line. Ten points left on the table in a six point loss. Brisbane made theirs late on and the Breaks couldn’t quite make the shots they needed to make. Couldn’t get the ball in the hands of their best shooters and couldn’t take the Bullets’ defence out of its system. Most of all, even though they managed to take the lead back with that monster third, they still left themselves too far to go with that 13 point deficit at HT. Too much, man. Too much.

If that was the worry, then the second half does plenty to provide optimism. As Akil Mitchell said afterwards, if they can put together a 40 minute game with the level and intensity of that third quarter then they’ll be a difficult team to beat. Mitchell himself can take heaps of positives – 20 points, 9/12 from the field. Turns out he really can be a scorer. Woodside also showed that when he can get around a screen he’s a very adept lay-up artist and Abercrombie added his usual dozen points. Mika had a good one too, playing through foul trouble as always but shooting 3/3 for his 7 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

There’s a week’s break now before the Breakers take on Jerome Randle and the 36ers, a game that they could really use a win in now, just to ease the chatter. The victory objectives are pretty clear:

Make your free throws
Get Corey playing better
Don’t be fouling stupidly
Get Akil fired up
Figure out the Penney/Webster rotation

Stocks:

Movin’ On Up Like Curtis Mayfield – When the Breakers came good in the third, it was Akil Mitchell who earned the focus. He didn’t start the run but he maintained it with his powerful post play, lobbing up a few slick floaters on his way to a 20 point night, the first Breaker to hit that mark this season. How long would those odds have been? Plus of course he’s one of the best defenders in the team, particularly his on-ball defence.

Goin’ Down Slow Like Howlin’ Wolf – Maybe it isn’t Penney that’s the issue but Corey Webster then. He doesn’t seem too happy having to play off the bench but frankly he’s not done too much to suggest he needs to be starting either. Hopefully as he plays weaker teams he’ll be able to work with a little more room and those shots will start dropping. He’s always been a streaky player – one who scores best with a volume of shots. One thing that’d be nice to see is a few more heavy screens for the guy to help things out. That’d be on Pledge and Loe-bags.

Key Stat

Taking Corey Webster’s numbers out of the equation, the Breakers shot 30/54 from the field in this game – that’s 55%.

Play of the Game

As frustrating as some of these passes can be, what with the turnover rate and all, when they come off they’re glorious and this from Mika to Kirk was nothing less: