Breakers ready for test
THE refocus did not take long. No sooner had a two-game road sweep been ticked off, inhaled and digested, than it was time to start thinking about those dangerous Adelaide 36ers.
The New Zealand Breakers are the form horses of Australia’s National Basketball League right now, having stormed to equal top spot on the table with four straight victories, the last two of which have come on the road.
After stunning title favourites Melbourne United at Hisense Arena last Sunday, the Breakers confirmed their status as genuine semifinal contenders by backing that up with a quality, grind-out win over Andrej Lemanis’ Brisbane Bullets in Queensland on Thursday night to improve to 4-1 for the season.
Both of those last two victories were achieved without star shooting guard Kirk Penney, on bereavement leave after the recent death of his father Paul, which further ratcheted up the significance and quality of a tricky road double.
The Breakers are even getting some overdue respect from the Aussie hoops fraternity who have suddenly been re-enlightened as to the abilities of this club which has played in five of the last seven grand finals, and won four of them.
All well and good. But there are enough experienced heads in this Breakers lineup to understand the danger of being seduced by a winning streak, even if it does contain a landmark result or two.
Count starting small forward Tom Abercrombie among them. After marking his 250th appearance for the club (and in the ANBL) with that 101-96 victory in Brisbane, the springy 10-year veteran shifted his attention quickly to Joey Wright’s 36ers whom they’ll entertain at the North Shore Events Centre on Thursday night.
‘‘It’s good we’ve got some good preparation time for those guys,’’ said Abercrombie of an Adelaide outfit that has won four of its first GETTY IMAGES six games and recently added former NBA star Josh Childress to their deep roster.
‘‘They really test you with their speed and how they play. I think they’ve been one of the most impressive teams so far. It’s going to be our biggest challenge yet.
‘‘It’s a different sort of challenge too. They play a different game to anyone else with their speed, and it’s something we’re going to have to take care of. But we’re looking forward to it. We’re in a good place mentally and ready for that challenge of protecting home court against one of the best teams in the league.’’
Adelaide have a quality group, led by standout Aussies Daniel Johnson, Matt Hodgson, Nathan Sobey and Mitchell Creek, and have recruited well in the form of imports Shannon Shorter, Ramone Moore and Childress.
It’s a perfect test for the Breakers who locked in defensively to shut down the dangerous Melbourne offensive machine, then a few days later showed they also have the ability to win a more high-scoring affair in Brisbane.
The key against Adelaide will be to limit their open-court opportunities, and make the contest less a track meet and more of a half-court shootout.
They will hope to get Penney back, with Abercrombie praising his team-mates for the way they rallied round in the absence of the veteran sharpshooter.
‘‘We all wanted to step up and play well for him,’’ added Abercrombie. ‘‘The fact he’s been able to have that time with his family and we’ve been able to get the job done for him while he’s away is really important.’’