Breakers in no mood for any more festive spirit
THE Breakers will be not only looking to shake off any Christmas excesses when they take on the Kings in Sydney tonight, but also the memories of their lowest point of the season.
The Auckland-based team were put through a torrid training session on Tuesday, no doubt accounting for some of their sins having been thrashed 83-59 by the Cairns Taipans on Sunday.
A tough travel schedule seemed to get the better of the Breakers as they went zero-for-17 from beyond the arc and also gave up 15 offensive rebounds in a 44-31 shellacking on the boards.
The Kings, who beat the Breakers 82-69 at the start of this month, are a tough prospect given the Aucklandbased players would rather be at home with friends and family.
In their favour is an ability to bounce back strongly after losses.
Coach Dean Vickerman said it was the first time he had needed to travel on Christmas Day but the holiday period was notoriously difficult for visiting teams to negotiate.
‘‘It’s a challenge – there is no doubt about it. There has always been a pretty good percentage of home wins during that period in our league. But we want to beat everybody at their gym.’’
There is no cause for panic, either. The Breakers still sit at the top of the league with a 12-5 record.
Vickerman said the team had studiously viewed the footage from Sunday night’s game to see what went wrong and he believed there was a lack of team cohesion.
‘‘For us, it’s always a balancing act throughout the season – we try and get them in a really aggressive mindset and that one spilled over a bit in that we didn’t share the ball or move the basketball well enough.’’
Vickerman said Cairns limited the supply of ball for three point shots better than a lot of other teams had done.
‘‘The balls weren’t being pitched out from the same areas that they normally are and that makes an adjustment to the type of shots you take.’’
Star forward Tom Abercrombie, who has battled injury all year, took a lighter role in training at the start of the week but is expected to be fit for tonight’s game.
Vickerman said there was no doubt Abercrombie, who was struggling to find his confidence and form, was a target for other teams.
‘‘I think he has dealt with it pretty well – they will target him a little bit but he is good enough to respond.’’
The Kings rely heavily on their starting five with the main man Josh Childress, one of the league’s top scorers, averaging 22 points a game.
Breakers captain Mika Vukona said ‘‘everybody in this team knows exactly what they need to do’’.
‘‘You have got to stop Childress. He is an amazing player. His penetration opens up the lanes and everybody becomes free from that.
‘‘If you can limit him and limit the shooters like [Ben] Madgen . . . it goes a long way towards getting that win.’’