Sosa returns to court
Last time Edgar Sosa stepped on court in a Breakers uniform, the Kiwi Australian NBL outfit produced arguably their most exhilarating 20 minutes of hoops this season.
Now the influential point guard is back, having shaken off a minor ankle injury and a telling one-game absence, and will take his place back in the lineup for tomorrow night’s pivotal visit to the Perth Wildcats.
With Sosa there, the playoff-bound Breakers certainly have a shot at producing a third victory for the season over the defending champions and bitter rivals from the wild west of Australia.
Without him … well, last round’s dispiriting 81-71 defeat at the Cairns Taipans (which Sosa sat out) indicated vividly just what an important figure the talented Dominican is to this year’s Breakers group. He is their point guard, best creator, most natural scorer and spiritual leader. He is the spark that lights the fuse of this group at its best.
‘‘He battled through on Wednesday in his first session since he tweaked the ankle,’’ Breakers coach Paul Henare said after yesterday’s training hitout in Auckland.
‘‘He kinda struggled but he’s moving a lot better today, so he’ll be fine.
‘‘He’s playing well, he’s got a good level of confidence right now and he’s one of those genuine guys who can break a game open with what he can do, so we’ll be happy to have him back.’’
Sosa leads the Breakers in scoring at 16.1 points a game, shoots the three-ball at a highly respectable 40 percent clip and dishes out 3.7 assists an outing.
You also get the feeling that his best stuff is still to come.
Last round’s 98-81 home victory over Melbourne hinted strongly at that, with Sosa rattling up 16 points as he led the freeflowing Breakers to a 60-41 halftime lead over the title favourites. But then he rolled his ankle soon after the restart, and took no further part in a game the Breakers made a lot harder work of than they should have.
Sosa declared himself fit and ready to lead the charge against a Wildcats side reeling from back-to-back defeats to the Sydney Kings, and said that Melbourne performance now had to be his, and the team’s, standard for the back part of the campaign.
‘‘Everyone gets up for [Melbourne] just because of how much they’re talked about, and some of their players. That’s one of the games I really take personally, so I wanted to be super aggressive. Everything was going well and then I tweaked my ankle.
‘‘But that has to be our level now. I definitely hold myself accountable to playing that way. Coach wants me to play at pace, he wants me to get my guys going … so that’s a responsibility I take on.
‘‘The way we played the first half of Melbourne is how we want to finish out the season.’’
But Sosa has no illusions how tough it is going to be as the third-placed 13-8 Breakers visit the fourth-placed 13-9 Wildcats in front of the 13,000-plus Red Army.
‘‘All coach has been talking about all week is how, after taking those two losses, they’re going to come out with everything they’ve got, whether it’s playing physical, making shots or coming after us on defence.’’
The Breakers travel to Perth today. They need to win two of their final seven games to guarantee a playoff berth, and at least double that to secure home advantage for the semifinals.