Breakers aiming to make defensive statement

The New Zealand Breakers have had a strong off-season, led by the signing of Gordie Herbert as their new head coach, but now their attention turns to rounding out their roster ahead of NBL27.

“We need two spots basically, in the import positions,” Breakers President of Basketball Operations Dillon Boucher said at NBA Summer League.

“One will be a five, someone to come in and be a rim protector and be able to finish above the rim.

“The other is like a combo three, two. A guy who can handle the ball a little bit, shoot it, but obviously we want both positions to be great defenders.

“Being able to really strengthen our defence through this process will be an important thing.”

With legendary coach Herbert leading the charge, the Breakers have star point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Sam Mennenga and DJ Vasiljevic already locked in for their starting unit.

With Boucher and Herbert on the ground in Las Vegas, the Breakers are hoping they can rely on their relationships across world basketball to secure the perfect pieces.

“We do trust a lot of our senior players to be able to throw names at them and ask their thoughts on it,” Boucher added.

 “We use the connections we have globally to get intel on these players.”

The next part of this process for teams is arguably one of the toughest, as they wait to see what players end up with NBA opportunities.

“Seeing the talent on display out here at the moment, we are going through names on a regular basis and just seeing what their availability is,” Boucher said.

“Hopefully they play well, but not too well.”

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