Wildcats cruise past lacklustre Breakers
The New Zealand Breakers look destined to stumble into the ANBL playoffs with more of a stagger than a swagger.
And right now, even that is looking like a difficult prospect after the Kiwi outfit plummeted to their eighth defeat in their last dozen games in a Saturday night visit to defending champs the Perth Wildcats.
The Breakers were well beaten
90-73 by the struggling Cats in another disappointing display as Paul Henare’s men suffered their third ANBL loss in their last four outings to continue an unconvincing back half of their season. On the strength of this, the four-time champs need a near miracle to morph this campaign into a positive finish.
The Kiwi outfit’s late-season decision to bring in American big man Rakeem Christmas as a third true centre in their squad also remains a perplexing one. The Breakers have now lost three of four since the third import was added, with no signs that his addition has added the required spark to a squad which continues to struggle for its best stuff.
Christmas had a solid enough outing in Perth, with 10 points, on four-of-six shooting, and six rebounds in 18 minutes. But with Alex Pledger limited to just 10 points in just under nine minutes, and new starting centre Rob Loe to seven points and three boards in a dozen minutes, it remains difficult to see the value added by the lateseason roster addition.
The Breakers were short of the mark in many areas as they trailed all the way against a Wildcats side that had lost six of their previous nine games. The home side led
22-20 at the end of a tight first term, but extended that advantage to five
(48-43) by halftime and 11 (71-60) entering the final term.
The Kiwi outfit shot just 43.5 per cent from the floor, made just four of 24 attempts from deep and allowed their opponents to shoot a solid 52 per cent from the floor. Perth also shot 14 more freethrows than their opponents, and collected 17 more points from the charity stripe.
The defeat sees the Breakers drop to 13-9 and fourth on the standings; the Perth side leapfrogging them to third (14-10). The Kiwi club still require at least two victories to seal a playoff spot. Right now, that looks a long way off.
Returning point guard Edgar Sosa added 10 points (4/11 FG) and seven assists for the Breakers, but with just one starter managing double-figure scoring and Tom Abercrombie and Kirk Penney combining to go two of 10 from the floor for a collective eight points, the visitors just never fired enough shots.
Import DJ Newbill’s struggles continued too, with the out-of-sorts guard making just four of 13 shots for eight points to go with a single assist and rebound.
Outstanding playmaker Bryce Cotton paced the Wildcats with 27 points on eight-of-12 shooting, which included two of three longrange bombs, and six rebounds.
Home big man Angus Brandt returned to form with 16 points and five boards, while forward Jesse Wagstaff and import JP Tokoto added 14 points apiece with telling contributions.
The Breakers visit Illawarra next up on Friday, and have a lot to do to get their campaign back on track against a side they’ve had their issues with already this season.
(Bryce Cotton 27, Angus Brandt 16, Jesse Wagstaff 14, Jean-Pierre Tokoto
14), ( Edgar Sosa 10, Rakeem Christmas 10, Alex Pledger 10). 1Q: 22-20; HT:
48-43; 3Q: 71-60.