Breakers bench boys heat up
Everyone wants to start. Luckily for the Breakers, they have a quartet of bench men both content in their roles and capable of changing a game off the pine.
In last week’s shocking home loss to the Adelaide 36ers, the Breakers bench very nearly saved the day, contributing more than half the points and repeatedly digging their side out of holes.
On Thursday night in Sydney the bench was even better, again supplying more than half the points in a crucial 98-95 win over the Kings after four losses in the previous five games.
The Breakers improve to 11-5, and remain neck and neck with the 10-4 Perth Wildcats at the top of the table, with eight days until their next hitout, in Adelaide.
Again the second unit came up trumps, with the Breakers bench outscoring the Kings’ by a mammoth 51-19. All of the quartet who saw action contributed.
Rob Loe, arguably the secondbest shooting big man in the league behind Daniel Kickert, was huge with a game-high 23 points in as many minutes. He made nine of his 16 shots, four of eight from beyond the arc, and had a plus/ minus of +13.
The experienced Kirk Penney added 13 points at an efficient clip (4/7 FG, 2/3 3PT) and energiser bunnies Shea Ili (7 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds) and Finn Delany (7 points, 4 rebounds) also weighed in with big plays at crucial moments.
The plus/minus (how the score moves while a player is on court) is often as good as any gauge of influence, and the entire bench had positive numbers (between 7 and 13), while four of the five starters had negative digits.
Point guard Edgar Sosa was the exception among the starters, +10 over his 28 minutes with a handy 21 points, three boards and a pair of steals. Mika Vukona also put in a useful shift, snaring 10 points, six boards and a pair of assists in a role opposing coach Andrew Gaze tagged ‘‘outstanding’’.
It’s a good sign for the Breakers that their bench is finding its rhythm. All they need now is for the starters to rediscover their mojo and they could easily slip back into that mode that saw them rattle off nine straight victories over the first part of the season en route to a 9-1 record.
Henare certainly had high praise for his impact men after their fifth road victory (from seven) for the season.
Loe’s contribution had been timely after starting centre Alex Pledger had not been able to train all week with an ankle problem.
‘‘Robbie came in and had a good impact. When we’ve been good this year we haven’t done it with 9-10 guys firing on all cylinders. We’ve had guys step in and pick up the slack when someone has been a little down and Robbie was that guy tonight.’’
Henare also lauded the efforts of his young Tall Blacks Ili and Delany.
‘‘Shea plays both ends. He’s improved his shot, and with his confidence level and way he directs the team, he’s growing as a player. It’s great to have someone like him as backup point guard, and having that faith in him to close out games.
‘‘And Finny has really matured. He just trains the house down. All our guys put a lot of work in outside of official practice time, and it’s good to see that paying off.’’
Stuff journalist continues to prepare for the Coast to Coast race, with the help of a new best friend.
Ididn’t think I would fall in love this year, but when I met my new road bike Ruby, I knew it was the beginning of something special.
I’ve always been told that good cycling gear can make all the difference.
In fact, the other week when biking the Port Hills of Christchurch, I stopped for water and a group of bright young elites pulled up and politely giggled at the sight of my non-biking apparel, which included gym shoes and Ralph Lauren sunglasses.
‘‘You’re doing well to even get up here’’, one said.