Mody Maor’s New Zealand Breakers emptied the tank for a remarkable double-victory round in the Australian NBL. Now they get to do it all again this week as the league continues to throw cruel curveballs the way of their exhausted Kiwi club.
The Breakers emerged from an exacting round 7 of the NBL season with victories over Tasmania (84-76) in Launceston on Friday night and the Adelaide 36ers (89-83) in west Auckland on Sunday afternoon to improve to 8-3 for the season. That’s behind only the 8-2 Sydney Kings at the pointy end of the standings, and puts the club in a strong position to push on for playoff hoops in 2023.
But they came close to not even making it back to play the latter contest after flight cancellations and rebooking delays pushed them to the limit getting in and out of Tasmania.
As it was Maor and his men only arrived in Auckland at 3am on Sunday, and had the tightest of turnarounds to be ready, and relatively fresh, for the date with CJ Bruton’s Sixers less than 12 hours after getting back to their homes.
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Ironically the Sixers were in Auckland two full days ahead of the game and while the Breakers were scrambling about in Launceston trying to figure a way home after Qantas cancelled their Saturday flight out (as they had their one in), Adelaide were going through a leisurely workout at their opponents’ practice facility.
The Breakers had every reason to lose in Tasmania (with Maor only joining them at the eleventh hour after welcoming his second daughter into the world on game eve), but got home with a standout 26-15 final quarter.
It was a similar story on Sunday at a full Trusts Stadium when they shook off the tiredness to go toe to toe with the Sixers over three quarters, and, behind big late plays from imports Dererk Pardon and Barry Brown Jr, established the separation required at the end.
The concern is there is no letup this week. The Breakers travel to Cairns (another difficult spot to get in and out of) to play the Taipans on Friday night, and return home (an 11-hour journey via two flights) to host the Brisbane Bullets at Spark Arena on Sunday (4pm tip) in another tight turnaround. They are scheduled to hit Auckland at 1am on game day.
Stuff understands Maor is seething at the schedule (especially while trying to win back a fan base after two years on the road), which does not take into account the increasingly problematic nature of trans-Tasman travel. But publicly he is putting on a brave, and proud, face as his players continue to take the challenges in their stride.
“It took everything we had,” he told Stuff after Sunday’s victory. “We got home last night at 3am. We were in the gym watching film at 1.30. This is not how you come in and perform.
“It’s really important for us to play well in front of our fans. We want to buy back the confidence in what the Breakers are. A packed house today was great, and for us to keep doing this we need to come in and play great basketball games in New Zealand.
“Early on I told the guys there are going to be moments when you need your B game, or your C game, to beat somebody else’s A game. Adelaide were here 48 hours before we were. So we needed our C game to beat their A game and I’m very proud that we did.”
The coach reflected it was not a “typical” Breakers game on Sunday. “We got beat in ways we don’t normally get beat. You could feel they were a step faster, so we weren’t going to win this though our legs. It was going to come through our heart, our grit, and the guys stayed the course, and even when things didn’t go our way, kept battling and battling and battling.”
Maor said becoming a parent for the second time had seen him “take stock” and emerge with a “very deep sense of gratefulness that I get to embark on this journey and on this challenge with these people. There is utmost trust that they will give the club everything they have every time, and as a coach I can’t ask for more.”
But to be asked to do it all again this week – the fourth time already this season they’ve had a home game tight on the back of trans-Tasman travel?.
“We’re good,” he shot back. “It’s a challenge we embrace. This is not something we have to do – it’s something we get to do. We get to compete against great teams in tough circumstances. This is how we grow and get better. We’ve been through a stretch of three back-to-backs in a row with travel. The guys know what to expect. Cairns and Brisbane are excellent teams, and it’s a challenge we relish.”
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