Braswell identifies defence as Breakers’ Achilles heel
Kevin Braswell has his realist’s hat on, which is probably understandable for a coach whose team may have to win eight straight to sneak into the playoffs.
Braswell’s struggling New Zealand Breakers ticked the first box when they outgunned the Cairns Taipans 113-106 in New Plymouth on Thursday night to edge to 9-12 for the Australian NBL season.
With the magic number (to make the top four) sitting at either 15 or 16 wins, depending on how things play out, the Breakers still have a mountain to climb. At the very least they must win six of their last seven, starting with the in-form Brisbane Bullets at Spark tomorrow.
That’s why Braswell wasn’t getting too carried away about a seven-point home victory over the league’s wooden-spooners. That’s why he emphasised there is still so much to fix to have any chance of making this escape act a reality.
‘‘We’re great offensively right now . . . we’re pretty good at scoring points. It’s at the defensive end we really need to lock down to have a chance these next seven games,’’ said Braswell after his side’s second highest points total of the season (they put 114 on Adelaide back in October).
‘‘I saw glimpses,’’ he said when asked if he spotted any signs of his defence locking down. ‘‘We were really good in the first quarter, till about 1:39 to go. We had held them to about 17, then it was like nine straight in a period of about 45 seconds.
‘‘If we stop having those little breakdowns, we start holding teams to the numbers we want to hold them to.’’
Still, there was at least something positive for the Breakers to take into tomorrow’s visit by Andrej Lemanis’ 12-9 Bullets who sit in the coveted fourth spot.
Shawn Long continues to prove he’s the best offensive big in this league, and a real chance to get back into the NBA. He had 32 points (on 12-of-18 shooting), 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 assists as he once again showed what he’s capable of when he stays out of foul trouble.
Tai Wesley was also very, very good. Again. Most of his 10 assists set up Long for dunks, and the cagey power forward added 16 points (7/11 FG), 6 rebounds and 4 steals to underline his status as Robin to Long’s Batman.
Others contributed. Jarrad Weeks had the hot hand in the first half to pour in all of his 12 points, Finn Delany added a dozen off the bench in just 16 minutes and Shea Ili and Armani Moore chipped in with 11 each. There was even a glimpse of Corey Webster’s stroke returning late.
More importantly, perhaps, the Breakers took some adversity in their stride. They’ll need more of that from here on.
When their flight from Auckland to New Plymouth was cancelled, they simply packed themselves into a convoy of cars on game eve and drove down. No problem.
‘‘There were no complaints. We’re so used to it,’’ said Braswell of the disruption. ‘‘We didn’t speak about the whole Sydney trip when the flight got cancelled and we went over that morning [of the game].
‘‘We didn’t know how we were going to get down there, but it was cool.’’
Long said he enjoyed the trip down, where he, Braswell and Moore did a lot of talking and ‘‘realised we had a lot in common’’. He also relished keeping out of foul trouble and being allowed to do his thing out on court.
‘‘I know some calls are not going to go my way, but I’ve got to live with that, try to stay straight up and not be too physical,’’ he reflected. ‘‘That’s why I falter sometimes, trying to be too physical.’’
So, was he enjoying himself, despite the sudden-death nature of the season now.
‘‘Yeah, man, it’s getting fun in these games. Trying to string together wins right now is really all we’re focused on. Winning is always great. I’m in a great mood right now because we won.’’
Long may it continue.