Allows Penney to do what he does best

Penney has increased his output to 19.8 with Dillard by his side in the back-court. Part of that is the attention Dillard is attracting from opposing defences but it also shows how quickly the point guard has learnt the tendencies of his teammates.

“It’s been seamless,” Penney said. “[Dillard] has done an exceptional job, understanding our system and understanding our guys, being that player on the court who’s calling plays and trying to get everyone involved.

“Obviously we were struggling with injuries and trying to fill each other’s positions, but when you can just slide back into what you can do well, it’s made it a lot more enjoyable and we’ve been a lot more effective.”

Indeed, it’s no coincidence the Breakers have built a four-game winning streak using the same lineup: Dillard, Penney, Paul Carter, Vukona and Rob Loe. Before that settled stretch, coach Paul Henare was forced to employ seven different starting fives in 20 games, hampering the team’s rotations and resulting in an 8-12 record.

The Breakers were in last place and the post-season looked a long shot. But recruiting Dillard and Carter kick-started a resurgence that unlocked Penney’s potential and left second place the temporary prize if the Breakers beat Cairns tonight.

“Internally, we kept believing,” Penney said. “[General manager] Dillon [Boucher] and Pauli said, ‘It’s not over yet, we’ve got time’, and they went and got a couple of very good players in the exact positions we needed them.

“It’s a newer group than we started with and there’s been a lot of changes, but right now, it’s a really strong group.”