Henare hints at signing import
AP DESPERATE times, desperate measures. Breakers coach Paul Henare has warned his underperforming players that a personnel move remains an option as they look to break out of their mid-season funk.
At 10-5, and second on the Australian NBL ladder, the Breakers are not exactly in crisis mode.
But they’re a long way from the 9-1 record they took into the recent international break and after Friday’s inexplicable fourthquarter meltdown at Spark Arena in Auckland, for a fourth defeat in the last five games, there is a distinct feeling of unease around the runaway leaders of just a few weeks ago.
Henare was clearly frustrated by arguably his team’s most disappointing defeat of the last four, a 90-75 loss to the Adelaide 36ers, in which his team led for the first three quarters, but then folded like a nervous poker player in the final frame.
After leading by nine early in the last term, the Breakers made just four of 21 shots, allowing the 36ers to breeze to a second straight victory over the Kiwi club, with a 34-11 finish.
By game’s end the Breakers had morphed into a rabble. Clearly there is some concern among the coaching staff.
After the game, Henare and his assistants remained on court, locked in a prolonged discussion with club general manager Dillon Boucher.
Then Henare was very late for the mandatory post-game media conference, citing a team meeting as reason. ‘‘It was time to have a good chat,’’ he explained.
Something is rotten Breakerland.
It might just be a form slump, but it might be something more deep-seated and that is Henare’s main worry.
His starters are struggling and it was only some energetic play from the bench unit that got them through the first three quarters in a strong position.
Imports Edgar Sosa and DJ Newbill have gone off the boil, Tom Abercrombie has lost his rhythm, and Mika Vukona is not the force of seasons’ past.
Alex Pledger had 12 points, but he is short of his best stuff, as is veteran Kirk Penney. After blasting his team for ‘‘soft’’ play and lack of accountability, Henare said the fourth-quarter effort that in gifted the game to coach Joey Wright’s side was ‘‘unacceptable’’.
Asked if he could use the third import slot he has up his sleeve to make a personnel change, it was notable Henare did not rule it out.
‘‘We’ve got it there, and part of the planning is to have it there for a reason,’’ he said. ‘‘If we feel as a club we need some help, we’ve always got the option to bring that in.
‘‘Right now I have 100 per cent faith in the group we have. But there’s always the option of bringing somebody in.’’
Henare, who took some of the blame on himself for his team’s final quarter no-show, admitted that 10-5 was ‘‘not the end of the world’’. But neither was it comforting, considering where they were riding that nine-game win streak.
‘‘It is fixable. But we can’t let it ride too long. We’ve got to make some changes. We’ve let our advantage slip a bit. It’s a good old challenge for me as coach, for our team, and for our club to navigate our way through this.’’
The next two outings are on the road, at Sydney on Thursday, and back in Adelaide on December 29.
Henare said the club’s history of fighting through similar tough patches was encouraging. ‘‘We’ve had to get in the trenches and battle it out, and thankfully we’ve got a few of those guys still here. There’s no panic but it’s a time for honesty and accountability that I think is lacking.
‘‘It’s on me, and on our leaders . . . there is an opportunity there to dig deep and see how tight we’re going to stay to get through this. You can’t hide from the doubt and frustration that’s there.
‘‘But I don’t mind a good challenge.’’