The Breakers have a lot to be hopeful about as they head towards their homecoming game at Spark Arena on Friday night, and one major concern in the form of an ankle injury to key Kiwi big man Rob Loe.
Mody Maor’s New Zealand Breakers play their first home Australian NBL game in 489 days when they host the Tasmania JackJumpers at their downtown Auckland arena (7.35pm tip) – officially ending a two-year run where they have been almost exclusively based in Australia because of the pandemic.
And after a promising season opener on Sunday in Melbourne, when they were pipped 101-97 by hosts United in an overtime thriller, new head coach Maor will be confident his group can mark their Kiwi homecoming in appropriate fashion in an early clash of two winless clubs.
The JackJumpers – last season’s surprise finalists in their debut campaign – logged back-to-back defeats over opening round, pipped 84-79 first up at South East Melbourne Phoenix and then thumped 106-84 at home on Monday night by the Cairns Taipans.
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The Breakers surprised many with a hugely competitive effort at John Cain Arena, where they have now lost their last 11 games (league-wide), to knot it at 88-88 at the end of regulation, before eventually succumbing to Melbourne’s stellar 3-point shooting. It was their eighth straight defeat, and 17th in the last 19, against Dean Vickerman’s side.
Maor’s men showed plenty of promise as they won the paint, rebounding and several hustle battles, but just couldn’t quite hang with some brilliant long-range shooting from United stars Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Chris Goulding who combined to go 12 of 22 from beyond the arc. The visitors’ cause wasn’t helped either by a Melbourne triple that came after the shot clock had expired, but was not picked up by the game officials.
“It was a hard-fought battle that you expect when you come into this building,” said Maor after the game. “But I’m proud of how my guys played, proud of how we fought [and] happy about a lot of things in the process.”
Given the coach was working in eight new faces, including 18-year-old French Next Star Rayan Rupert, there was plenty to be encouraged about as new imports Dererk Pardon (23 points, 12 rebounds) and Barry Brown Jr (23 points, 4 boards, 5 assists) led the way.
On the concerning side was a sprained ankle suffered by Loe that limited him to just 18 minutes in which he scored 12 points (on 5-of-6 shooting) and grabbed 4 boards. Scans have revealed no major damage but the Tall Blacks centre will be doing well to recover in time for Friday’s game.
Do-it-all point guard Will McDowell-White also had to have his chin stitched up after copping a nasty gash under his chin that did not stop him stuffing the statsheet with 9 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists in 34 busy minutes. He is expected to be fine to play Friday.
Maor was mostly encouraged by what he saw first up, even if his men could not quite hold their poise in the extra period when they were outscored 13-9.
“In the growth process of a young team, which we really are, end-game situations are the cherry on the top,” he said. “It will take time to put everything together, but we were there at the end of regulation, made a few good plays to push it into OT, and had a few good defensive plays in the extra period we were unable to covert. We’ll get better from it.”
The Breakers would dearly love to have Loe for their home opener in front of what they’re hoping will be a big crowd at Spark. The 31-year-old is having a bounceback year after a couple of tough Covid campaigns with the Breakers and had looked handy in a supersized frontcourt alongside Pardon before rolling his ankle.
Pardon’s play was the big takeaway from the opener. He brought energy and activity, was effective as a roller on the rim, made 8 of 10 shots, snatched 5 boards off the offensive glass and troubled the United big men defensively with his length.
But there were other aspects that will have to improve. Their 3-point shooting was wayward (8 of 32 overall) and their defence of the long ball was well short of the mark as they allowed Melbourne to go at a sizzling 18-of-38 clip from deep.
Brown, too, can be even better. He was a handful when he got downhill, but shot poorly (10 of 27 overall and 2 of 11 from deep), while third import Jarrell Brantley (6 points, 5 rebounds) and Rupert (2 points, 2 boards in 11 minutes) were quiet.
The Breakers start preparations for the JackJumpers on Wednesday. It’s been a long wait for some home comfort, and it is time to make it count.
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