New Zealand Breakers coach Petteri Koponen is hopeful of a fit roster for the opening game of the season.
Photo: LUKAS COCH
Who will take the floor, and for how long, is the big question facing the Breakers ahead of their Australian National Basketball opener against the Brisbane Bullets on Friday at Spark Arena.
Injury and illness has hit the roster hard at the back end of the pre-season.
Coach Petteri Koponen has had limited time out of imports, had Tall Blacks miss pre-season games altogether, and had to keep a rising star on ice as he navigated the countdown to tip-off in the opening round.
For game one Koponen was hopeful of having a full roster available despite not every player taking part in Wednesday’s training session.
“We need to find a way,” Koponen said. “And that’s what we also try to teach our guys, how we face adversity, how we can [deal with] these small problems, it’s not going to define who we are.
“We’ve got enough talent in this group, we’ve got enough personnel and we try to start the season right way.”
In his second season with the Breakers, Koponen has nine new players on the roster, seven of them local players, who the coach said would “set the tone”.
The fast-paced approach to the game from last season would be on show again as fleet-footed American guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright was back to lead the team.
Parker Jackson-Cartwright’s speed will be key for the Breakers.
Photo: LUKAS COCH
“We need to be fast and we want to be that uncomfortable team to play against,” Koponen said.
“It’s not easy to play against our bigs who can shoot outside and we want to space the floor.
“Overall I think this group has got much more IQ than the group we had last year. Of course, there’s some veterans who have been playing in this league more so they can pick up some things faster.”
Pre-season was a success on the court, winning the NBL Blitz tournament for the first time and back-to-back victories over Japanese B.League teams, but Koponen said players were not guaranteed playing minutes off the back of that alone.
“You’re doing your job well, you’re playing well, you get more opportunities. You are not ready to go, then it’s the next guy.
“How we play we need all five players to do their job, both defensively and offensively. There can’t be weak links if we want want it to work, and this is the challenge.”
The Breakers have had a lot of off-season changes but so have other clubs in the league.
“I think the league got much better. I think there are five, six teams who really went out, spent some money and got great imports.
“Everybody’s talking how competitive it’s going to be, [coach Brian Goorjian] from Sydney says maybe this is the best ever the NBL has been.
“So the challenge is there for us. If you want to compete with them nothing changes we need to be top of our game every game day and play the best possible way, if you want to want to win.
“There’s no one easy team in this league and it’s going to be exciting, for the fans, also for the teams, you know every time you go you have to be ready to bring it.
“There is no one favourite. I think there are many teams who think they’ve got chances. So it’s really interesting league and the injuries, how the team can improve during the year, these are the big things that can kind of decide the season.”
Izaiah Brockington of the Breakers
Photo: LUKAS COCH
New import Izaiah Brockington believes the Breakers have what it takes to win the Championship for the first time since 2015.
“We’re going to have an advantage over a lot of teams in the league, I just feel like a lot of them don’t want to play defence especially a lot of main guys they’re just one way,” Brockington said.
To start the season at home was something Brockington was looking forward to.
“Bringing the new jerseys and the new energy into that arena I’m excited. We’re doing this for them, we’re doing this for the country of New Zealand so really excited to have their support and to show them what we’re bringing this year.”
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