Breakers look to make amends for meltdown
Revenge may be a dish served cold, but for the Breakers it will still be lukewarm when they face Adelaide tomorrow night.
The New Zealand team suffered a horrific fourth-quarter capitulation against the 36ers in their last home game on December 15, scoring just 11 points over the last 10 minutes, while Adelaide posted 34, for a 90-75 win.
Having looked in control for three quarters, the meltdown was undoubtedly the team’s low point this season.
Although the Breakers bounced back with a 98-96 win over Sydney last weekend, they need to put away the 36ers in Adelaide to make amends for that loss.
Breakers coach Paul Henare said he granted the team some time off to briefly rest over Christmas, before the buildup to this game began, and has noticed they’re all up for the game against Adelaide.
‘‘We gave everyone a couple of days off, to be with family and put the feet up,’’ Henare said.
‘‘We got back in on Boxing Day and it was a great session, everyone seemed refreshed and obviously the motivation is pretty high to come up against Adelaide.’’
At training yesterday the players were clearly giving it their all and the practice game between the starters and bench players was as intense as anything you’d witness each week in the ANBL.
The 36ers are the only team to beat the Breakers more than once this season and it’s surprising how they’ve struggled against the team from South Australia, as they’re just an average team in the league, with eight wins and eight losses.
However, Henare refutes the suggestion that they’ve become the Breakers’ bogey team.
‘‘We’ve lost two games against them, we’ve beaten them once and they’re not a bogey team at all,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s just that the last time we played against them we played three good quarters of basketball and couldn’t close the game out.
‘‘But that’s one reason why I know the guys are really looking forward to this one.’’
Despite the Breakers going through a sticky patch, losing four of their last six games, they went back up to the top of the ladder this week, thanks to Illawarra’s surprise 96-84 win over Perth last Saturday.
The Breakers are going through a period of the season where they’re only playing once each week, rather than twice, and Henare says that’s enabled him to spend extra time working on things.
‘‘We’ve got some older bodies that we have to manage throughout the season and this next little bit allows us to find a balance of time off, but also time on the practice floor,’’ he said.
‘‘When we get to the end of January and February, we’re playing two games a week for four weeks or so, so it’s going to be more focused around the game time then and healthy bodies.’’