LACEY LOWDOWN

Following the Game 5 Grand Final defeat in Sydney the curtain has come down on a hugely entertaining and successful Sky Sport Breakers season. Whilst the ultimate prize eventually eluded them the club can take immense pride in turning the disaster that was the 2021-22 wooden spoon into an almost successful march to the championship in 2022-23.

There were many memorable games during the season but for those present Grand Final Game 4 played in front of 9,742 fans at Spark Arena took the biscuit. Not only was it a record crowd for a basketball game in New Zealand but the atmosphere and passion of the supporters was spine tingling – it will live long in the memory.

Here are the key numbers from the season:

Jarrell Brantley and Derek Pardon were the only two players to play all 36 games, rookie coach Mody Maor guiding the club to an overall record of 22-14.

Brantley, the Breakers Most Valuable Player of the Year Award winner, led the scoring amassing 581 points with Barry Brown Jnr not far behind with 544 points.

The other main scoring contributors were Derek Pardon (424 points), Will McDowell-White (366) and Izayah Le’afa (359).

Tom Abercrombie’s defensive masterclass in Grand Final Game 4 in which he garnered 6 steals set a new career mark for the Breakers skipper. It also equaled the record held by another Breaker’s great Mika Vukona for the most steals by a Breaker in a play-off game.

Abbo has extended his Breakers all-time appearance record to 399 games. He has also further extended the club’s all-time records in the following categories:

Points to 4,319

Blocks to 215

Wins to 226

In addition he is second all time in rebounding behind Mika Vukona and steals behind Dillon Boucher.

Surely Tom will be back in 2023-24 to play his 400^th game and take those records to greater heights!

Will McDowell-White’s emergence as an elite point guard was a joy to behold. In addition to his 366 points he dished 200 assists and pulled down 175 rebounds.

He now has 390 career assists in 78 games at exactly 5 per game. That moves the Aussie into heady company as only Cedric Jackson, with 6.4 dimes per game, has a better Breakers career average. 

Those 390 assists already place him 8^th on the Breakers all-time list which is led by Paul Henare (901).

Derek Pardon led the team in blocked shots (38) and rebounds (290). His 38 blocks in a single season have only been bettered by Ben Pepper, Ekene Ibekwe and Shawn Long.

Rob Loe has moved up the Breakers all-time list on a number of statistical categories during the season:

66 blocks – 7^th all-time

145 appearances – 10^th all-time

68 wins – 11^th all-time

542 rebounds – 12^th all-time

Roll on the 2023-24 season only seven months to wait!

The Sky Sport Breakers maintained second spot on the ladder with a pair of hard earned victories in Round 14 of the NBL.

A 97-94 victory in New Plymouth on Wednesday night over the Perth Wildcats was followed by an equally tight 85-83 win in Adelaide – their third win of the season against the 36ers bolstering their overall record to 13-6.

The Breakers took the lead in the first quarter in Adelaide and led for the majority of the game thereafter but did have to withstand a late charge from the 36ers, who scored the last seven points of  the contest.

After missing the last two games with a broken finger the Breakers welcomed back Will McDowell-White to the line-up and he was his typical influential self with 10 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds.

Also in double figures were Barry Brown Jr (16 points), Jarrell Brantley (15 points), Izayah Le’afa (13 points) and Derek Pardon (10 points).

McD-W’s return meant the Breakers had all 12 full roster players available for the first time this season at the 19^thattempt.  

The win against Perth broke a sequence of five straight losses to the old enemy from out west. Once again the Breakers had to withstand another strong performance from former clubman Corey Webster who scored 19 points – he, Bryce Cotton and Brady Manek combined for 71 points.

Tai Webster, signed by the Wildcats a couple of day prior to the game, was suited up on the Wildcats bench but didn’t take the court. Unofficial reports indicating his release from the Breakers, who held his NBL playing rights, precluded him from playing against his former club.

The Breakers were once again paced by Brown Jr who scored 23 points.

Next Star Rayon Rupert made an eye catching return after missing the previous eight games with a wrist injury. The young Frenchman came off the bench to score 14 points in just 18 minutes of action.

Other notable performances came from Pardon (13 points), Brantley (11 points and 7 rebounds) and Le’afa 18 points (7/11FG).

But it was Brown that was the star turn for the hosts adding 6 rebounds and 6 assists to the 23 points that came on 10 from 18 shooting.

Brown Jr brought up his 300th point in 15 appearances. He’s the 49^th Breaker to score 300 points for the club with only Carlos Powell (11 games), Kirk Penney and Mike Chappell (both 14 games) passing the mark quicker.

Other Numbers:

V Perth Wildcats

Tom Abercrombie’s blocked shot in the game against Perth was the 254^th of his career drawing him level with Alex Pledger as the Breakers all-time leading “Blockers”.

There’s a slight difference in number of games played though – Pledge 238, Tom 381 !

V Adelaide 36ers

Will McDowell-White’s 7 assists sees him reach the 100 assists mark for the season at 5.9 per game. He now has 291 dimes for the Breakers in total – shortly to become just the 9^th Breaker to dish 300 assists.

The victory in Adelaide was Rob Loe’s 59^th in Breakers colours drawing him level with Gary Wilkinson as the 14^thwinningest Breaker of all-time. 

Upcoming

The Breakers have a short turn around as they are in action again on Tuesday night, this time in Perth against the Wildcats. 

December 27

Having won the first three encounters with the Tasmanian Jack Jumpers the Sky Sport Breakers went down 93-82 in Hobart on Boxing Day to slip to an 11-6 record – still good enough for second place on the NBL ladder.

After a Covid induced 18 day lay-off the Breakers looked a little out of sync. They gave up 18 turnovers and were out rebounded 45-29, with the differential on the offensive boards 16-6.

Those two factors combined handed extra possessions to the Jack Jumpers who put up 69 field goal attempts to 55 from the Breakers.

Izayah Le’afa led the way for the Breakers with 21 points (4/7 3PG), the second occasion this season he has scored 21 and the 12^th time in 16 games he has made double figures.

Other notable contributors were Barry Brown Jr and Jarrell Brantley with 16 points apiece although the latter was guilty of committing 7 turnovers.

Tom Abercrombie scored 11 points (3/4 3PG) while Derek Pardon coupled 8 rebounds with 10 points.

In addition Cam Gliddon played his 300th NBL game against Tasmania, the well-travelled veteran making all three of his shots for 8 points.

Other Numbers:

With a pair of steals Tom Abercrombie took his career total to 254 moving ahead of Mika Vukona (252) into third spot on the Breakers all-time list in that statistical category. Ahead of him are Cedric Jackson (278) and Dillon Boucher (288).

Izayah Le’afa became the fifth Breaker to pass the 200 points mark this season after McDowell-White, Pardon, Brantley and Brown Jr.

Jayden Bezzant, an injury replacement for Will McDowell-White, became the 142nd player to suit up for the Breakers – the ninth debutant this season! 

The playmakers absence broke a sequence of 27 consecutive games by McD-W stretching back to the middle of last season.

18 turnovers equaled the most the Breakers have given up this season and the 6 offensive rebounds the equal fewest they have garnered this campaign. Additionally Tasmania’s 16 O boards was the most the Breakers have given up since allowing the Jack Jumpers to pull down 21 in the second game of the season.

Upcoming:

Brown Jr, the Breakers leading scorer this season is only 12 points shy of 300 points.

The Breakers are next in action against Perth Wildcats in New Plymouth on January 4, the first of nine games in January. 

The Sky Sport Breakers split their two-game Round 9 fixtures comprehensively beating South East Melbourne Phoenix 110-84 at Christchurch Arena on Thursday but coming unstuck at Spark Arena on Saturday evening going down 92-84 to Perth Wildcats.

The story of the Perth encounter was the display of a former Breaker. Corey Webster demonstrated that on his day he is one of the premier shot makers in the NBL. The three-time championship winner scored a team high 26 points on 10 from 17(59%) shooting. 

Webster poured in 16 third quarter points to put his team in the ascendancy then scored Perth’s last 4 points to seal the win. The fist pump at the final buzzer indicated the satisfaction the performance, and result, gave the shooting guard who played  236 games in a 10-year career for the Breakers.

The Breakers leading scorer this season, Barry Brown Jr, went one better than Webster tallying 27 points – his ninth 20+ score in 12 innings – but it was a night when Perth and C-Web took the honours.

On their way to two consecutive tons the Sky Sport Breakers posted 37 first quarter points against South East Melbourne Phoenix in Christchurch – the highest opening ten minute points haul the club have mounted in the 40 minute era which dates back to 2009.

It was also the first time consecutive 100+ scores have been posted since January 2019 when the Queensland clubs Cairns and Brisbane were walloped.

Here are the numbers:

Beat South East Melbourne Phenix 110-84 at Christchurch Arena on Thursday

Dan Fotu scored his first Breakers points. He scored 5 points in his sixth game of the season and seventh overall – he played once as a Development Player back in the 2017-18 season before he embarked on his 4-year collegiate career at St Mary’s College, California.

Barry Brown Jnr, the team’s leading scorer made a season best 31 points, making 4 from 6 from beyond the arc.

Will McDowell-White with 11 assists became the 11^th Breaker to dish 250 assists.

Cam Gliddon scored 5 points to pass 3,000 career points. He sits 12^th on the scoring list of active players which is headed by Adelaide 36ers forward Daniel Johnson with 5,971 points.

Tom Abercrombie (4,212 points) is third on the NBL’s active players scoring list.

Abercrombie snared 2 steals to become just the 4^th Breaker to pinch 250 steals.

The Breakers top five “Stealers”:

288 Boucher

278 Jackson

252 Vukona

251 Abercrombie

209 Henare

Lost 92-84 to Perth Wildcats at Spark Arena on Saturday

Rob Loe played his 125^th game for the Breakers drawing level with Oscar Forman in 12^th spot on the club’s all-time games played list.

Derek Pardon produced his 6^th double-double of the season adding 14 rebounds to 13 points.

Upcoming

Cam Gliddon will play his 299th NBL game against the Sydney Kings.

Izayah Le’afa needs 3 points for 600 NBL career points.

Will McDowell-White needs to pinch 1 more possession for 50 steals in Breakers colours. 

The Breakers (11-4) are next in action on Thursday when they entertain Sydney Kings (9-3) in a clash between the top two teams on the NBL ladder – tip-off 7.30pm at Spark Arena.

21 November

The 2022 edition of the Sky Sport Breakers seem to thrive on adversity.

Not for the first time this season the team and staff faced minimal recovery time, due to flight cancellations and delays, before taking the court against well rested opponents.

On this occasion, having beaten the Tasmania Jack Jumpers on Friday night in Launceston, the Breakers had to overcome a chaotic return journey before eventually arriving in Auckland just over 12 hours ahead of the Sunday afternoon fixture against the Adelaide 36ers at Trusts Arena.

It was a game in which the Breakers trailed 80-78 with under three minutes to play, a situation where you would have thought the travel weary Breakers might fold. Instead it was the Auckland based club that found another gear outscoring the 36ers 11-3 in the closing minutes to close out an impressive weekend’s work and improve to 8-3 on the season – clear second behind the Sydney Kings (8-2) on the NBL ladder.

Barry Brown Jr scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter but it was Breakers big man Derek Pardon that was the major influence on proceedings. 

Fast becoming a fan favourite Pardon recorded a 19 points/10 rebounds double-double for the second consecutive game while also snaring 3 steals and swatting 3 blocked shots in a 35 minutes high energy performance.

There were other notable contributors to Sunday’s win with Jarrell Brantley posting his first double-double of the season – 17 points and 10 rebounds while Will McDowell-White was also influential with 13 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds.  

It wasn’t the happiest return to Auckland for former Breakers great CJ Bruton who was back in New Zealand for the first time since taking on the head coach role with the 36ers.

It was also a return of sorts for kiwi Hyrum Harris (6 points and 3 rebounds) and Mitch McCarron (8 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals). The 36ers duo played plenty of games at Trusts Arena during their time in the NZNBL with the James Blond Super City Rangers a few years ago.

Won 89-83 v Adelaide 36’ers at Trusts Arena on Sunday

McDowell-White became the fifth Breaker to score 100 points this season as he notched 13 points. 

The Breakers centurion points scorers are:

Brown 162

Brantley 149

Pardon 137

Le’afa 131

McDowell-White 105

Won 84-76 v Tasmania Jack Jumpers (away) on Friday

Derek Pardon posted 19 points and 10 rebounds, the exact numbers he posted on Sunday.

Izayah Le’afa dropped 4 from 7 threes on his way to a season high 17 points, he now has 550 NBL career points.

Tom Vodanovich scored his 100^th point for the Breakers.

Upcoming

Cam Gliddon needs just 3 rebounds to bring up 1,000 career rebounds and 11 points for 3,000 career points.

Izayah Le’afa requires just 1 assist for 150 career dimes.

Will McDowell-White is 3 assists shy of becoming the 11^th Breaker to dish 250 assists.

Tom Abercrombie, with I more steal will become the 4^th Breaker to pinch 250 steals.

The Breakers top five “Stealers”:

288 Boucher

278 Jackson

252 Vukona

249 Abercrombie

209 Henare

The Breakers are in Cairns on Friday to face the Taipans before facing yet another quick turnaround to take on Brisbane Bullets at Vector Arena at 4pm on Sunday.

The Sydney Kings continued their remarkable sequence of results on the road as they inflicted an 81-77 loss on the Sky Sport Breakers at Spark Arena on Sunday.

The Kings have now won 17 straight away games, the victory taking them to 7-2 and outright first in the ladder. It’s not all doom and gloom for the Sky Sport Breakers as they sit a lofty second on the NBL table with a 6-3 record entering into the two-week international break.

The Breakers looked dead and buried at half-time trailing 45-27 and with the margin still 18 points at the three-quarter mark a tame finish looked likely. However the Breakers poured in 31 fourth quarter points as Izayah Le’afa and Tom Abercrombie inspired a spirited comeback.

The Breakers reduced the deficit to two points in the dying seconds but with the clock their enemy the home team couldn’t get any closer.

It had been 33 months and 72 games since skipper Tom Abercrombie felt the warmth of home crowd support and the Breakers veteran received a terrific ovation as he entered the arena for his 372^nd appearance for the club. He demonstrated that he had lost none of his defensive ability or his hops – a trademark fourth quarter dunk complimenting two earlier triples.

Here are the latest club records and milestones:

Lost 81-77 v Sydney Kings at Spark Arena on Sunday

Will McDowell-White nabbed his second double-double of the season in accumulating 10 points and 12 rebounds.

His 10 points moved him past 400 points for the Breakers – the 35^th player to reach this milestone. Phill Jones was the first to reach the mark late in the inaugural 2003-04 season while Tai Webster, who was still at Forrest Hill Primary School when Jones made his 400th point, was the most recent in the 2020-21 season.

Tom Vodanovich played his 100^th NBL game rather fittingly against the team he won a championship with last season and suited up for on 67 occasions. He first played for the Breakers between 2018 and 2020 before shifting to Sydney for a productive two seasons.

Barry Brown Jr is proving to be a model of consistency. With 22 points against the Kings the Breakers leading scorer this season has now scored between 22 and 24 points in five of the six games he has played.

Izayah Le’afa moved past the century mark in points this season with his 15 points on 7 from 12 shooting.

Upcoming

The Breakers have another home game to look forward to on Sunday November 20 when they take on the Adelaide 36ers at Trusts Arena, 48 hours after a match up in Tasmania against the Jack Jumpers.

Those two games follow the FIBA window when both the Tall Blacks and Australian Boomers will play two World Cup Qualifying games.

Dan Fotu and Alex McNaught headed off with the Tall Blacks on Monday morning to contest the Tall Blacks away games against Jordan on November 13 and Lebanon three days earlier.

Mody Maor began his tenure as the 8^th Breakers Head Coach, following Jeff Green, Frank Arsego, Andrej Lemanis, Dean Vickerman, Paul Henare, Kevin Braswell and Dan Shamir, with a 101-97 overtime loss at Melbourne United on Sunday.

It’s the second occasion the Breakers have been taken to overtime on the opening game of the season. The last time was two seasons ago when Tai Webster scored 34 points in a 94-91 loss at the Adelaide 36ers.

Despite the loss there was a lot to like about the Breakers performance.

New imports Derek Pardon (23 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks), and Barry Brown Jr (23 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists) both impressed on debut.

Pardon’s double-double is the first on debut for the Breakers since Rick Rickert posted 19 points and 12 rebounds against Cairns Taipans on the opening game of the 2007-08 season.

Will McDowell-White threatened a triple double with 9 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists – those 13 assists a new career high.

Rob Loe continued the good form he displayed with the Auckland Tuatara in the NZNBL recording 12 points and 4 rebounds before retiring to the bench with a, hopefully not serious, ankle injury.

The other player in double figures was Izayah Le’afa, the Wellingtonian guard scoring 13 points on his Breakers debut.

Loe’s 12 points took him to 800 points for the Breakers. In addition with 108 games under his belt he sits 14^th on the Breakers all-time appearance list. 

With 7 assists logged against Melbourne United McDowell-White needs just 3 more assists to tally 200 dimes for the club. After just 45 games he is already up to 13^th on the Breakers all-time assists list, averaging 4.4 assists per game. 

The next assignment for the Breakers is a home game against the Tasmanian Jack Jumpers at Vector Arena on Friday night – October 7^th, tip-off 7.30pm. Get along and support the team as they play the first home game since June 5, 2021.

If, as indicated on the Breakers social media posts, they field a full compliment of rostered players against Adelaide 36ers later today it will be the first time they have been able to do so in 18 games this season.

In fact it will be the first time a full contingent of players have hit the floor since May 1^st 2021 when the Breakers beat Perth Wildcats 86-84, in Tasmania – 29 games ago! 

Off the back of three consecutive double-doubles, while way with the Tall Blacks at the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, Rob Loe was given a start against the Tasmanian Jack Jumpers. Significantly his 12 points more than doubled his scoring output for the season – in his previous 8 games (albeit with limited playing time) he had scored 11 points.

Perhaps more significantly Tom Abercrombie made a welcome return to the playing roster against Brisbane Bullets. Abercrombie only had 3 rebounds and a point but he did get a valuable 12 minutes game time under his belt.

In the same game Rasmus Bach played his 50^th game for the club.

The Breakers leading scorers this season are:

Yanni Wetzell – 220 points @ 16.9ppg

Hugo Besson – 216 points @ 14.4ppg

Finn Delany 179 points @ 10.5ppg

Peyton Siva 151 points @12.6ppg

Finn Delany has moved up a place on a couple of the Breakers all-time records categories recently.

Delany is now up to 10^th spot on the Breakers scoring list moving past Gary Wilkinson’s 1,423 points. With 1,437 career points Delany will soon move to ninth, the place currently occupied by Ben Pepper (1,451 points).

Currently with 681 rebounds Delany is also closing in on 700 career rebounds. Only Vukona (2356), Abercrombie (1,638), Pledger (1,293), Boucher (939), Pepper (935) and Jackson (749) have bettered that mark for the club.