Breakers coach: ‘We need to fix this now’
Breakers coach Dan Shamir is not hiding from the realities of the early-season hole his battered team has dug in the Australian NBL. ‘‘We’re struggling,’’ he conceded after their fifth defeat of the season.
The Breakers were shaded 104-101 by Melbourne United in Auckland on Thursday night to sink to 2-5. The situation is not terminal yet, but it is fast approaching that point and Shamir conceded some fundamental things needed fixing, and quick, with another game at South East Melbourne Phoenix tonight across the ditch.
There were positives, as there have been in all five defeats this season for this new-look and everchanging Breakers lineup. They mounted a fierce comeback after a disastrous third quarter in which a 33-14 burst by the visitors eased them out by 17 (84-67) at the final break.
That deficit grew to 21 early in the final period, before the Breakers came home with a withering RJ Hampton-inspired burst to get as close as two points inside the final minute. But Melbourne made their foul-shots when it mattered and the Breakers suffered their fifth defeat by 10 points or fewer this season.
‘‘It’s always good to make a comeback, and our players showed a lot of effort in the fourth quarter,’’
Shamir said. ‘‘But we’re struggling. There’s no way to hide it. The comeback was not a lot about basketball . . . we played very simple stuff, the guys made a few shots and they attacked.
‘‘If we want to be a better basketball team, we need to solve a lot of basketball issues, and it’s not easy right now. We need to try and survive this period, get a few weeks where we can fix a few things, get a few players back and get a few positive things basketball wise.
‘‘In the meantime we’ve got to try give ourselves a chance to win. Major changes are not going to happen in how we play but hopefully we can somehow find a way to get a ‘W’.’’
The Breakers are hurting right now, in more ways than one. They have Finn Delany (ankle), Rob Loe (fractured skull) and Scotty Hopson (knee) all out of action at present and have just brought in former NBA player Glen Rice Jr as an injury replacement.
Rice, who has a checkered past in a pro career that now includes eight stops over the last three years, made an immediate impression little more than a day after flying in from the US with 26 points in just 19 minutes at an efficient 6-of-10 shooting clip. He made two of his four attempts from beyond the arc and, in a welcome sight, converted all 12 of his free-throw attempts.
The Breakers looked better with the athletic swingman on the court (they were plus-seven over his time on the hardwood) and Shamir said he hoped Rice would help them make a much-needed correction as they search for some wins to nudge back closer to that .500 mark.