Henare breaks his silence on Breakers exit

Tall Blacks coach Paul Henare has broken his silence on his shock departure from the Breakers and reiterated that a Rotorua homecoming presents as the ideal chance for Steven Adams to end his self-imposed international exile.

Henare is now totally focusing on the Tall Blacks role after his surprise decision not to extend his involvement with the Breakers when talks between he and the club’s new owners broke down at the end of the 2017-18 season.

Henare has previously refused to speak on the reasons behind his departure, but broke that silence yesterday morning.

in an interview on Though Henare notably declined to lay blame at anyone’s feet, he made it clear that the new US-based ownership of the club were taking the organisation in a direction he could not get behind.

Already over this off-season Tall Blacks big men Mika Vukona and Rob Loe have been jettisoned, and the under-contract Alex Pledger is set to join them after being requested to speak to other clubs.

Under Henare the club had become fully Kiwi outside its import positions; but next season it is set to have more non-New Zealand players on the roster than those from these shores.

‘‘Through discussions, going through a process of where the club was going, I just decided it wasn’t for me,’’ Henare told Trackside radio.

Asked if the direction the new owners were intent on taking the club didn’t sit well with him, Henare’s reply was telling.

‘‘Since they’ve come in they’ve made a few changes as well in the playing roster. They’ve got their ideas and direction about which way they want to do, as they have that right to do.

‘‘It’s all good. I’m happy with where I’m at and everything that’s going on, so all the best to them.’’

Henare said it had been a tough decision initially to sever ties with a club he has had such a long association with, but he has cherished the time to spend with his family and concentrate on his Tall Blacks role.

His initial instinct had been to look to dive straight back into the Australian NBL, but he has decided to focus on his work with the Tall Blacks which includes two Fiba World Cup qualifying games at the end of June and further windows in September, November and next February.

Asked if the new Breakers owners had had a problem with Tall Blacks commitments, he indicated that may have been the case.

‘‘In initial talks they said they liked the synergy ... but towards the end of conversations I got the feeling ... I don’t know whether they put more thought into the schedule, [but] I think they realised it was a busy international schedule coming up.’’

Henare conceded he still didn’t know whether Kiwi NBA star Adams would make himself available for the upcoming Fiba window .