Breakers Confident With Destiny in Hands

Thursday, February 2, 2023

The New Zealand Breakers have urged there is nothing stopping them from locking up a top-two spot and eyeing the championship trophy, starting with their game tonight against the Illawarra Hawks.

Sixth Man of the Year Finalist Barry Brown Jr spoke ahead of tonight’s game against the bottom of the ladder Hawks, in what is a high stakes affair for the Breakers.

New Zealand is third on the ladder entering the last round of the regular season with a 16-10 record.

One way for the Breakers to secure a top two finish is win their remaining two games, which would guarantee home court advantage, and direct qualification, for the playoffs.

The Breakers were stunned by Illawarra in round 16, when they lost due to a Tyler Harvey half court game winner.

Brown Jr assured with time to rest and reset, New Zealand will be well and truly awake to avoid a repeat.

CLICK HERE FOR EVERY POSSIBLE FINALS SCENARIO

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It could not be closer right now ?<br><br>The final round of the regular season is set to kick off on Thursday, and every game is absolutely crucial ?<br><br>Who finishes in a finals spot, and who misses out? ? <a href="https://t.co/3tucuIFVo9">pic.twitter.com/3tucuIFVo9</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1620181457678516226?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“It’s good to know we control our own fate and we’re not waiting on guys to see what’s going to happen, we are confident who we are, what we bring to the table, we will take it one game at a time and control our own destiny starting with Illawarra,” Brown Jr said.

“I think we take on a road dog mentality and we come together.

"We bring our own energy; we have no one but ourselves. We have to bring our own energy, our own effort, everything on the road because nothing is going to go your way as far as the crowd, the calls or whatever the case may be.”

Brown Jr praised coach Mody Maor on the player-coach relationship and trust that has developed throughout the season.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Where can your team finish? ?<br><br>We've crunched the numbers, and there's plenty still to be decided in the top six race ?<a href="https://t.co/pddNt9ZwJ4">https://t.co/pddNt9ZwJ4</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1620316853376815104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“The great coaches like Mody allow players to put their game into the system instead of the other way around,” Brown Jr said.

“Mody has a willingness to listen, a lot of times when you go overseas, coaches have the attitude ‘it’s my way or the highway’.

“When Mody gives us criticism, he allows us to give him feedback and come to a middle ground and try to understand each other.

“Mody really is a ‘player’s coach.’ He allows people to sprinkle in their game here and there within the system.”

Tip-off tonight between the Breakers and Hawks is 7:30pm AEDT.