LAST SEASON

Last season, if you care to remember, was an interesting one. Having looked on the brink of missing the playoffs altogether thanks to an inconsistent offensive game and the absolute scourge of missed free throws, the Breakers then won five games straight to sneak into fourth spot. Their reward was to play the first placed Melbourne United lot in the semis but 20 points from Cedric Jackson, 14 from Corey Webster and a generally obliterating first quarter got the Breakers the win in Melly and they beat ‘em again in AK to advance to the finals.

It was there that they met the Perth Wildcats, the NBL title once again set to reside with one of these two modern titans. A third quarter comeback wasn’t quite enough for the kiwi-based team and they went down 82-76 in Perth in game one. The clutch shooting of Corey Webster came through in game two where the Breakers won 72-68 to force a decider, however they were soundly beaten 75-52 in a fairly horrific finish to an erratic yet eventually successful season. As close as they were to taking it all, just making it to the final was beyond expectations, if we’re being honest.

CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES

Although several long-serving key players remain – and one returns – it’s definitely tempting to say that this season marks the beginning of a new era for the New Zealand Breakers. Gone are head coach Dean Vickerman and GM Richard Clarke and in their places Paul Henare and Dillon Boucher have been promoted from within – a theme of this offseason for sure.

That’s exciting. Each has been primed for these positions and Henare in particular looks like he could even be an improvement on Vickerman. His work with the Tall Blacks has already won many admirers and if you remember Henare as a player then you know there were few smarter at this level than he was. A bloody cool dude.

However, preseason was something close to a disaster. Results there don’t really matter – not when coaches are trying out combos and messing with rotations – but it still isn’t the best when you lose all six of your practice games. Of the eight NBL teams and two invitees from the Chinese league to take part in the Australian Basketball Challenge, NZB were the only team not to pick up a single victory in their three games there though it needs to be said that injuries were a big factor there. Corey Webster, Kirk Penney, Ben Woodside and Tom Abercrombie all had their share of complaints while Shea Ili’s back worry led to him being replaced on the roster by Isaih Tueta on a short term contract.

That’s a problem because if those preseason games are good for anything it’s developing those on-court relationships. Bear in mind that there are a few new players to work with there, not to mention a new (but not completely new) coach in Paul Henare. At least that issue is partly off-set by Woodside’s existing combination with Penney and Penney’s with, well, pretty much everyone else.

The Breakers take on Melbourne United in their first game of the 2016-17 campaign on Friday night at Vector. It’s a bit of a grudge match with Melly boasting not one but two of last year’s NZB side that knocked them out of the comp in the semis. Cedric Jackson was always a good chance to leave once Kirk Penney strutted in but Tai Wesley jumping ship might’ve been more of a shocker.

Along with those two, Reuben Te Rangi has also left to take up a contract with the new Brisbane Bullets. Charles Jackson has returned to America where he played a bit of Summer League for the Las Vegas select side and will be hoping to crack a D-League roster again after a few games with Philly’s development team after the end of the NBL season. Everard Bartlett and Shane McDonald are still unattached.

Abercrombie, Vukona, Webster and Pledger were already locked down. Shea Ili, Jordan Ngatai and Finn Delany have been promoted to full-contracts having served time as development players. Kirk Penney has come home from Illawarra and Rob Loe has come home from Belgium. Every one of those players is a New Zealander, giving this roster a seriously local blend. In fact there wasn’t an Aussie among them until Tueta joined for Ili. The roster is filled out by Ben Woodside and Akil Mitchell – Americans who will be straight replacements for Cedric and Charles.

THE ROSTER

Tom Abercrombie

14.0 points and 6.3 rebounds a game in 2015-16, he’s as graceful a shooter as the Breakers have though he has a tendency to be the odd-man-out when everyone’s trying to get their buckets. A crucial scoring wing option for the team and one of the longest serving members.

Finn Delany

One of the trio of promoted D-Players. Delany logged roughly ten minutes of action for the Breakers last time but then is also coming off a Nelson Giants season where he shot 60% from the field with 15.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. A shade under two metres tall, look for him to sit towards the bottom of the forward rotations. One to follow for the future for sure.

Shea Ili

It’s a shame the back injury came when it did because Ili really turned heads (and ankles) last time out. Playing off the bench in a role that increased as it went along, Ili played with such energy and enthusiasm that he quickly became a bit of a crowd favourite. Plays some rapid if occasionally overeager defence. Good off the dribble although, like most young players, is prone to the odd bit of naivety. Under the tutelage of Henare there’s more than a lot to like.

Rob Loe

Popping back from a few seasons in Europe and a career in college with St Louis University, this signing is a decent bit of evidence of how much the NBL is growing. 2.11m tall and capable of a solid jump shot, he adds a nice offensive option to the frontcourt – it’ll be fun to see if he’s ever partnered with Pledger. Not unfamiliar either given national team duties and the fact he’s a former Breakers academy lad.

Akil Mitchell

The fabled second import. This year they’ve gone with a more traditional PF. Mitchell is a really good defender who won’t feel the need to have his fingerprints all over the ball, instead he’ll probably have an important role setting picks and scooping rebounds. Looks to be really good on his feet. Will play off the bench and tie what otherwise might have been a leaky second unit together. Nothing flashy here, all business.

Jordan Ngatai

Another promoted lad and another one who won a lot of fans in the NZ NBL. 15.9 points per game with Taranaki. Needs to become a more consistent shooter. Likely to settle into the spot as a SG/SF bench option that Bartlett held previously. Big opportunity for a young kiwi baller.

Kirk Penney

Returning to a club he’s cut down nets and hung banners with in the past, even at age 35 Penney is still a major threat to any NBL defence. Probably gonna assume sixth man duties now. He made a spectacular 44.7% of his three pointers last year whilst shooting the third most on average per game (Goulding and Webster ahead of him). Will make a huge difference to the Breakers’ fourth quarter offence.

Alex Pledger

Has dealt with injuries the past two years that have severely hampered his playing time but is getting back to his peak now. 6.5 pts, 5.7 reb & 1.5 blk last time – he’ll likely find himself as a defensive anchor to compliment Rob Loe’s more prominent scoring. Plenty of size right here.

Mika Vukona

The great man, still plugging away and still arguably the best defender of the lot of them. Only 6.2 points last season yet his 7.4 reb/g were essential. The team captain and so often the glue that holds them all together. Always near the top of the list in personal fouls as well. Hopefully they can limit his minutes more this season with some extra help around him.

Corey Webster

Scored 19.8 points per game last season and flirted with the scoring title. Missed the first few games there due to his stint with the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA preseason. Occasionally unstoppably dominant, sometimes a little bricky. Big strides on defence and the only joker last season who could hit a free throw. He’s the MVP candidate here.

Ben Woodside

A former teammate in Europe of Kirk Penney, he’s come in to play a little PG and bring his best Jason Kidd impersonation to the side. Once scored 60 points in a college game. Not the best shooter from range, like his predecessor Cedric, but also not the worst and unlike Cedric he also isn’t crazy athletic, so no killer layups or unlikely rebounds. However he is what they call a Floor General and with the likes of Webster, Penney and Abercrombie surrounding him that might be a better fit for this team.

Isaih Tuetu

May only be a short term player at the mo’ but Everard Bartlett will tell you what an opportunity that is. He’s been one of the starts in the South East Australian league with the Brisbane Spartans and it was through his coach there, a certain CJ Bruton, that he linked up with NZB. Undercover one of the best players outside of the top realm in Oz, so the insiders say. A point guard with the ability to score and distribute and one of the hardest workers out there – he’s earned this gig for sure.

THE OUTLOOK

Perhaps not coincidentally, the appointment of former point guard Henare has seen Cedric Jackson depart. Cedric is possibly the most talented player to ever take the court for the Breaks but his game increasingly didn’t mesh with the players around him. If you’re gonna stock Penney and Webster then you want a PG who’ll create space for them and distribute well. Now, Ced could pass like a champ but his outside shooting was horrific and he was also partly to blame for another weakness of the team: free throws.

The Breakers made a paltry 61.6% of their free throws last season. Even at this level, a single player would be disappointed with that mark let alone an entire team it was easily the worst in the NBL – Townsville’s seventh placed mark was almost ten marks better at 70.3%. Frankly, there’s no excuse for that – bad FTs cost you games. There’s especially no excuse when the rot seems to affect almost everyone there. Corey Webster made four of every five of his FTs – he was the lone shining light in that regard… which almost makes you wish he’d drive to the hoop a little more, take a bit of contact and draw those suckers. He has the ability to make them count, no worries there. Kirk Penney will have a conversion rate something close to Webster’s so that helps too. Abercrombie, otherwise such a good shooter in his own right, needs to step up here.

As for the three pointers, well at time the Breakers relied way too much on what for them was a streaky option. They weren’t good enough across the floor to be able to rely on the three-ball. Cedric shot a shade over 30%, while Webster (34.4%), Abercrombie (38%) and Bartlett (40.4%) were the only ones to hold their heads up in that regard – and Webster’s numbers still weren’t enough to justify 8.1 attempts per game. The difference with him, though, is that when he shoots you don’t immediately assume he’s gonna miss. As a team they made 32.6% of their triples and that leaves them seventh outta eight behind only Cairns. They also had an NBL-leading 13.7 turnovers per game which simply has to improve.

Again, you take out Jackson and put in Penney and plenty changes. You can play Abercrombie, a quality three point popper, at PF and Rob Loe (who can hit them himself) at centre. Or you can give Webster the PG duties. There’s variety all over and that variety is going to solve plenty of these worries. One thing that Corey had to deal with was the added responsibility of suddenly being a gun. He returned from America as a star of the NBL and as thus he was getting double teamed while Cedric was left open to shoot from deep. More shooters mean better spacing means better shooting.

It was that offensive frailty that cost them in the end. What got them all the way to the final was a stifling defence. To the casual viewer, this probably didn’t look like a team that was built upon a firmly defensive approach, what with Corey Webster’s flourishes, Cedric Jackson’s circus layups and Charles Jackson’s thunderous dunks, but that was the truth. It was defence first in every way.

Nobody came close to the Breakers’ 42.1 rebounds per game, where they constantly dominated – especially on the defensive end. They’ll lose some backcourt rebounding without Cedric but then they’ve also added real size with Mitchell and Loe, to fit with an increasingly healthy Pledger. 6.1 steals a game, second best to Illawarra, again Cedric takes some of that with him though if anything their 4.3 blocks per game (second to Illawarra, those buggers) might increase now. And while the Breakers only made 32.6% of their 3pters, they also restricted opponents to a mere 31.1% against them. Magnificent stuff on the perimeter.

Expect that all to even out a bit, which is a safer place to be for a team – able to rely on both offence and defence to some degree. There’s pressure on Mr Woodside to supply the stuff that Cedric once did off the ball and Webster will need to pick up even more of that slack himself too. But at the other end of the court they should be significantly more fluent and that’s the most important thing. That’s what needed to happen.

To use that word again, what’s most exciting about this roster is the versatility. The ability of players to cover multiple positions is crucial and that doesn’t only count on offence. They now have a number of players who can guard above and below their designated spots on the depth chart and that’s something that’s only gonna become more prevalent in the NBL. As it takes on a bigger profile and draws in more talented players, you can expect teams to run increasing intricate systems and the NBA’s addiction to switching will filter further on down under, don’t you worry about that.

There are plenty of risks here, plenty of ways in which this Breakers team doesn’t meet expectations – which right now would read: make the playoffs. Maybe Woodside can’t do what they need him to do. Maybe the development players that have been pushed forward aren’t ready to be solid contributors at this level. Maybe the offensive improvement doesn’t cover the defensive regression. Maybe Mitchell and Loe aren’t able to make up for the shots that this team is losing without Charles and Tai. Maybe injuries strike or maybe Henare can’t find the right lineups to bring the best out of them all.

So it’s a good thing that the trade-off for those risks are that we get to see a fascinating mix of youth and experience, most of it eligible for the Tall Blacks, that includes a few legendary names as well. We all say this every year but the NBL is only getting stronger and the Breakers are gonna be up against it. Still, there’s a lot to like here.

Now let’s get this bugger started, shall we?