Melbourne hold no fears for Breakers
The Breakers have no fear ahead of a looming road/home back-to-back against Melbourne United – and nor should they have.
On the surface it’s a tricky penultimate round of the regular season for the four-time champions from New Zealand who clinched a return to the playoffs with last weekend’s two-game sweep of the Illawarra Hawks.
They’re up against the No 1 team in the Australian NBL and an outfit playing some pretty handy hoops, having won 11 of their last 12 to storm to a league-best 17-7 mark.
But at 15-9, and just one spot back of them on the standings, the Breakers are no slouches themselves. And when it comes to battling the deep and talented Melbourne side, well, no one does it better than the Kiwi club.
The Breakers are 2-0 against Melbourne this season, having already beaten them at Hisense Arena and at their Auckland stronghold.
It’s no stretch to say that Melbourne are the Breakers’ bunnies, the Kiwi outfit having lost just twice to them over the last three seasons and won 10 of their last 11 matchups.
In fact Melbourne have never won in New Zealand since they morphed from the Tigers into their current United guise.
A continuation of that domination will be just what the doctor ordered as the Breakers eye a toptwo finish, and that all-important home advantage for the semifinals.
These last four games, Melbourne this weekend, and Illawarra (home) and Sydney (away) to follow next, are pivotal. If the Breakers can hold off the hard-chasing Adelaide 36ers (16-10) and Perth Wildcats (15-10) for a top-two finish they will very much have ticked their most important box.
Especially when you consider that the first round of the playoffs will be preceded by another of the Fiba international windows, which make that extra home clash all the more important.
The Breakers’ Tall Blacks contingent will face coming off away games in China and Korea and straight into a best-of-three semi.
‘‘Now we can shift our focus,’’ said Henare. ‘‘We have a legitimate shot at home court advantage and playing for that top two.’’
Melbourne should present as an ideal measuring stick for the Breakers who are coming off back to back victories for the first time since November.
But the Breakers were solid last round. You don’t win in Wollongong without bringing something special, and to back it up on Sunday without Kirk Penney’s presence was a positive sign indeed.
DJ Newbill refound his offensive groove with a polished 20 points on Sunday, Tom Abercrombie and Shea Ili both hit dominant stretches with their games, and Edgar Sosa remains in a good place.
If there’s a problem for the Kiwi outfit it has been the lack of impact from new import big man Rakeem Christmas who went scoreless in just 13 minutes on Sunday.
But with Kiwi centres Alex Pledger and Rob Loe both playing well (they combined for 13 points and 11 rebounds) Henare is relaxed about the productivity shortcomings from his new man.
‘‘The move we made bringing Rakeem in is to help our team. Rakeem is only going to get better. He’s working hard every day and doing the right things by the team ... there are going to be times we need him more, or Chief more, or Robbie, but it’s a good luxury to have three genuine centres to deal with this heavy period coming up.’’