The Penney’s w
Kirk Penney returns to the Breakers with the same drive that has taken h world and reveals he nearly came out of international retirement, reports s
DON’T let the boy-next-door looks or the snug, familial circumstances or even the warm, fuzzy homecoming storyline fool you. Kirk Penney, at the ripe old age of 35, is still a stone-cold killer on the basketball court.
It’s a situation the New Zealand Breakers will be relying on as they look to continue their remarkable record of success in Australia’s National Basketball League. They have played in five of the last six grand finals, and won four of them.
They have, along with their staunch rivals from the wild west of the Lucky Country, become the standard-bearers for this little league with the giant ambitions.
For the last time a team not named the Breakers or Perth Wildcats won the NBL crown you have to go all the way back to 2009 when the now defunct South Dragons lifted the Dr John Raschke Trophy.
But the winds of change sweep through this league, and at a time when some big-name Aussies have returned, and some ambitious clubs have unleashed their spending power, hope springs eternal. Melbourne, Sydney and back-again Brisbane have recruited well; Adelaide too. Australia is awash with optimism that the Breakers-Wildcats duopoly is about to be broken. Don’t discount Illawarra or Cairns either, there is that sort of parity in 2016-17.
For the Breakers some ominous portents hover. The last time a head coach, star point guard and veteran leader departed (Cedric Jackson, Andrej Lemanis and Dillon Boucher, respectively) was 2013, and the Kiwis plummeted from third straight title to second from bottom.
This year Jackson departs again (joining Melbourne), as does the head coach (Dean Vickerman, to Sydney) and a savvy vet (Tai Wesley, also to Melbourne). If things aren’t to turn pear-shaped again, Penney shapes as a crucial figure.
Even at his age, with this many miles on his high-tops, his ability to launch that picturebook jumper when he gets those broad shoulders nice and square sets him apart. It also helps that he is one of the great movers off the ball this league has seen. Last season, with the Illawarra Hawks, he averaged a remarkable 20.35 points a game.
Since he first left these shores, launching a globetrotting, and enduring, hoops career as a freshfaced North Shore teen heading for the University of Wisconsin in 2001, that’s been a given with Penney. He has played professional in the US (mostly D-League, but briefly landing in the NBA), Spain, Israel, Lithuania, Germany and Turkey, and has now had two stints in the Aussie league. He has also been a Tall Blacks linchpin through until his 2014 retirement.
Breakers coach Paul Henare, a long-time team-mate, understands what he’s getting from Penney. That’s a guy who understands his game better than anyone, and understands the game better than most. The former league MVPis a professional scorer who could put up points in his sleep.
Take his four games last season against the Breakers club he spent four seasons with from 2007-11. Penney torched his old mob for an average 26.25 points as the Hawks swept the Kiwi outfit. Later he would just smile and mention he was ‘‘kinda motivated’’ to prove a point against his mates. Did we say he had a killer ‘tude?
Despite a winless pre-season in which Penney (calf strain) and fellow perimeter scorer Corey Webster (hip and back soreness) hardly played, the veteran likes the group assembled. Sure, they’re underdone ahead of the October 7 opener against Jackson, Wesley and that formidable Melbourne United side at Vector. But Penney backs them to come together when it counts.
‘‘We’ve got all the positions covered pretty well. In the past we’ve had points where, man, do we have enough pieces, or do we have the right pieces? I think here it looks like we do, though we haven’t really had a chance to see what we’re capable of.’’
In one interview Penney talked about not feeling undue pressure to deliver because he now has so many accomplished performers alongside (Webster, Tom Abercrombie, Mika Vukona, et al). He’s reminded about that, and a smile breaks out.
‘‘Don’t read into that too much,’’ he says. ‘‘You know how competitive I am. It won’t take long for those juices to run and for the want to really play at your highest level to come through. That comment was more about a relaxed approach, being older, understanding you know what you do well, and you know what everyone else does well. I know why I’ve been brought to the team, and there’s just a peace that comes with knowing if I do that and everyone else does their roles, we’ll be good.’’
Given Penney has signed a three-year deal that will likely take him to the end of his career, it’s worth asking whether he’s considered what his legacy might look like.
‘‘It’s impossible to look down the track,’’ he responds. ‘‘It’s year by year, game by game, and just enjoying being able to play. I’m pretty thankful for that. Taking that half-year off really confirmed for me how lucky we are to be able to play a game for a living.
‘‘I’m just enjoying the process, and enjoying time with the family. But in terms of a legacy I’ll just try to do things the right way and pass on as much as I can to the younger guys and help create a really firm team that can win ball games.’’
Penney then gives us a sneak peek inside the shutters. A revelation about how close he came to coming out of international retirement this last off-season.
‘‘Someone close to me really wanted me to play for the Tall Blacks. I wanted to, but at the same time I’ve got my family now, I have a pro season I commit to the game and that was the time I commit to my family. I hadn’t signed with the Breakers at that point, but I said ‘I’m going to be giving back in a different sort of way’, and that is how I see playing here now, coming full circle, being part of New Zealand basketball again, being part of these young careers which are just beginning.’’
Yes, Penney is a reluctant Tall
We’ve got all the positions covered pretty well.’ KIRK PENNEY