Penney pumped to perform
Kirk Penney’s response is as beautiful as that jump shot of his when he gets his feet set and a sliver of space in which to launch.
The guy can still flat out shoot a basketball, and while he can he remains convinced he can be a difference-maker for the New Zealand Breakers, now his sole competitive outlet as a professional hoopster, even if he is the second oldest guy in the Australian National Basketball League.
Just don’t tell him he’s an old guy reduced to a limited role in the dotage of his career (he turns 37 on November 23). When that day comes, you won’t see KP for dust.
‘‘You know what, if I can do anything, it’s to change the perception of how well you can play basketball at any given age,’’ he says early in preparations for Sunday’s ANBL season opener against the Cairns Taipans at Spark Arena on Sunday.
‘‘I know I’m feeling good. But I can’t say much. I’ve just got to prove it in how I play. I’m still really enjoying playing and really enjoying this group we have, and feeling blessed to be able to get out there and still do it.’’
There’s only one thing Penney knows better than his jumper, and it’s his body. It’s the tool of his trade and the reason he gave up his beloved Tall Blacks and the longer, more demanding European season. He understands what he can and can’t do now, and his entire year is now predicated on peaking between the months of October and March.
Sure, he needs every inch of the pre-season these days to roll into premier shape; and, sure, he may not quite be able to strap a team on his shoulders like he used to back in the day. But he can still put up numbers.
In 2015-16, his first year back in the Aussie NBL, he averaged 20.4 points a game for the Illawarra Hawks, and last season, the most injury-ravaged in Breakers’ history, he was their one constant, at 30 minutes a game, 17.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists, while shooting 43 percent from the floor and 41 from deep.
‘‘Man, that was hard last year,’’ says Penney, thinking back to a rare playoff whiff in recent times. ‘‘It felt like our squad was coming together ... it was such a difficult year finding rhythm and keeping guys on the floor with all the injuries.’’
But that was then. And this is now. Penney, and fellow vets Mika Vukona, Tom Abercrombie and Alex Pledger are highly motivated to restore the club to a place they feel they belong in 2017-18. Before last season, they had won four of the previous six championships, and been in five of the last halfdozen grand finals.
Penney likes the group they have, even if the ANBL again looks packed with quality across the board as it continues to showcase its growing status in the global game.
After a 4-2 pre-season, Penney sees some promising signs. He, Vukona, Abercrombie, Pledger and Rob Loe are all coming off long off-seasons, and it’s been a process for them all to recapture that sharpness required.
‘‘When you take a little bit longer off it always takes a little bit longer to get back in shape. But we feel like we’ve worked out some of those kinks and are starting to look like we’re moving well and will be able to play some skilful basketball. We’re coming right at the right time.’’