J-Martin Ready to Pick Straight Back Up with Breakers

Written for nbl.com.au by Chris Pike

It's been quite the rocky road for Jeremiah Martin in his first overseas venture but now he has got over a bout of COVID and remains buoyant over the potential this New Zealand Breakers team has now that they have got this first game back behind them.

A big factor in Martin joining the Breakers in his first time playing out of the United States was to experience living in New Zealand and playing in Auckland. That now won't be happening. 

Then just as he was finding his groove in #NBL22, he got COVID and went into seven days of isolation with the Breakers' games in Round 8 postponed. 

They were able to get back out there on Sunday in Hobart against the Tasmania JackJumpers and while that game didn't go to plan, they are quickly back in action this Wednesday in the same building against the Illawarra Hawks.

The timing was unfortunate for both Martin and the Breakers. They had won two of their last three games with Martin delivering 19.0 points and 5.0 assists in the previous four matches as he was settling nicely into #NBL22.

"It definitely wasn’t good timing, I wish we hadn’t had a break just because I was feeling so good and we were starting to play well as a team," Martin said.

"We won two of our last three and we were trying to get back to winning and feeling good, and hopefully now we can pick that back up. You can say the break hurt us and it did set us back a little bit with the momentum we had.

"We had been having some really good practices and I feel like those were leading over to the games, they were really intense and everybody was playing well going at it, and understanding the game plan. We were competing so hard at practice every day and now we had to have a break. 

"I missed seven days so I missed the couple of practices that we had and other players who were affected with it did too. We had both players and staff go down with it and it was unfortunate, but it's part of what we signed up for as part of the league.

"Everybody is going through things so it's not just the New Zealand Breakers have players out for seven days so we can't feel sorry for ourselves. We have no excuses because other teams are going through similar things so it is what it is."

Martin was cut down for a week with COVID on the back of his 22-point performance in the win over the Sydney Kings, but he's through that now and was able to play Sunday, and is ready to fire on Wednesday.

"I'm feeling good now. I'm just trying to get my groove back," Martin said.

"We've had a couple of practices with everyone back and I'm just trying to pick up where I left off because we had two games that we had to reschedule. 

"That sucks, but I'm back now and am feeling good so can't wait for us to get our groove back as a team as well. I'm just trying to get back to where I need to be quick."

The virus obviously impacts everyone differently and getting back to normal can be a shorter or longer period for different people. Martin feels by Wednesday's game he'll be pretty much back to 100 per cent though.

"I'm feeling pretty good and I'm definitely trying to get my legs and wind back. In the last game before everything I played 37 minutes and then in my first practice coming back, I was kinda winded. Well I was very winded to be honest," he said.

"Then in the second practice I was trying to get my legs back and ever since then, I've just been slowly building back up. The wind came back a little bit quicker but I was feeling very tired and fatigued but I'm slowly getting back to feeling normal now. 

"I feel like by the time for the game, that all will go out the window because especially with where we are at right now, we need every game. It's all about the mind thing and you just have to put it out of your mind, and focus about the job at hand. 

"Some people will always take a little bit longer to bounce back from COVID, but I'm trying to be as professional as I can and come back as quickly as I can from it and not having any let up."

Martin, now aged 25, had a decorated college career with the University of Memphis for four years. He since has split his time between the G-League at the Sioux Falls Skyforce and Long Island Nets, and in the NBA at the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Nets.

However, after a tough two years having to deal with all the ramifications of COVID-19, Martin wanted to step into a new world this season and couldn’t wait to head down under, play in the NBL and be living out of New Zealand.

He was excited to explore the country and play home games for the Breakers at Spark Arena. While that now won't be happening, he's just thankful to be playing in front of fans in Australia and is enjoying everything about the experience despite the challenges.

"I was definitely looking forward to going to New Zealand and seeing how pretty the country was. I'd also heard they got good attendance for home games and I was ready to play in front of all our fans, and all of the good things that go with that," Martin said.

"Then we got the news a couple of weeks ago that we probably won't be going back out there at all this season we'll be staying here in Melbourne the whole time. I mean it kinda sucks, but at the end of the day we're still playing basketball and I just feel like playing back in front of fans at all is a good thing. 

"Even if they are road games, it's fun to be playing in front of fans having had that taken away from us the last two years. It really wasn’t that much fun playing in empty stadiums. Before I got to Cleveland last year, in both of the bubbles we didn’t have fans and it's just not the same. 

"So it's fun playing in front of fans, but there's still nothing like playing in front of your own home crowd and having that home court advantage. That's one big thing I was looking forward to because I see how much the opposing teams have fun playing off their own fans. Really that's the only thing I wish I was able to experience this season."

That desire to play in front of Breakers fans is still there, though, and that means Martin is open to the possibility of returning next season.

"I definitely want to play some home games in New Zealand," he said.

"I really wish I could do that and I watched some of their games before I came here, and saw what the atmosphere was like with the packed stadium they had at home. 

"I wanted to experience that energy and it looked fun, so if it means I have to come back for another season, I might just do that."

Getting used to living in a foreign country, and then being a part of a team not being able to go home has had its challenges for Martin get used to though. 

To top that off, he got injured early in the season and the Breakers seemed to be copping tough blow after tough blow on and off the court. But things have improved since and he wouldn’t like to be anywhere else.

"It was challenging at first probably in my first couple of games on top of me getting injured at the beginning of the season. It was challenging out first being out here, but my coaches do a good job of telling me the right and wrong things of what I'm doing," Martin said.

"And when I was struggling, they were still on me and trying to help me get out of the slump. It's been pretty good since that rough start and the teams out here are good. They are well coached, they play hard, have good defence and some good offence. 

"I like the league and this isn’t a league I'm just looking at being in for one year. I'd maybe like to come back or something and at this point I like the living out here. It's good and it's pretty easy getting used to this lifestyle."

Martin likes the team he's part of with the Breakers as well and has no question they can still have an impact this NBL season and improve dramatically on their current 2-8 record.

While sharing the back court with Will McDowell-White, Peyton Siva and even Hugo Besson, then learning and thriving alongside Yanni Wetzell and Finn Delany, and hoping captain Tom Abercrombie gets back soon, there's plenty for Martin to like about the team.

"I just love playing with those guys honestly. We all like are all interchangeable especially in the back court. I can bring it up, Peyton can too and obviously Will can," he said.

"We're all just interchangeable and then with Finn and Yanni, I have so much confidence in them and I know that every game those guys are going to hold it down. It's so good playing with them because they've played in the league and they know a lot of the players and teams, especially Finn who has played in this league a little longer. 

"It's just fun and they are a good group of guys. Unfortunately we had so much stuff to go through at the beginning of the season and we started out good at the Blitz, but already had things stacked against us because we knew we wouldn’t be able to start out with home games. 

"Then to find out we won't be having any and then the injuries and the COVID that we dealt with, I definitely know for a fact that the record that we have doesn’t define our team. I know for a fact we are a way better than the record we have right now. It's just a bad break we've had to this point."

While Sunday's return game against Tasmania wasn’t what Martin and his New Zealand team was hoping for, he hopes the Breakers can continue the momentum they had before their enforced break and is confident of it happening.

"With the group we have, I honestly think it's a strong team and our team is built well. We have a team that can compete every night against any team. We'll just let the chips fall where they are supposed," Martin said. 

"We have to have everything crossed every day, though, just hoping the game goes ahead. We just want to be able to play every chance we get so I'm hoping so much nothing happens so we get to play these games. 

"It's a nice new stadium to play in so it's fun going down there. We're just looking forward to getting back out there and playing. Hopefully the games go ahead from now on because the games have been fun, but I can't even lie to you, all this disruptions and everything isn’t as much fun."