Preview: New Zealand vs Brisbane - Round 20, NBL24

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Can the Breakers get the job done for the retiring Tom Abercrombie, or will the Bullets spoil the party?

Friday, February 16 at 5:30pm AEDT | Spark Arena

Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo | Sky Sport in NZ - International viewership details
Box scores: Download the free NBL App

Breakers legend Tom Abercrombie has announced he will retire at the end of the NBL24 season. The 36-year-old has played his entire NBL career with New Zealand and was a key part of the club’s dynasty which won four titles in the 2010s.

Abercrombie said he knew this would be his last season before the new campaign started, following the rumours that swirled of a potential retirement at the culmination of last season’s Championship Series defeat to Sydney.

The game will be Abercrombie’s final one in front of a home New Zealand crowd, should the Breakers fail to make the Finals.

A win for Brisbane will secure the Bullets’ return to Finals for the first time in half a decade, but if they lose they could be knocked down to seventh on the ladder pending other results.

Bullets import Casey Prather has praised Rocco Zikarsky, and said the Next Star shows “the signs of a true champion”.

New Zealand
81-94 loss to Melbourne
88-85 win over Illawarra
89-78 win over Perth

Brisbane
102-84 win over Adelaide
76-89 loss to Illawarra
77-93 loss to Melbourne

Brisbane

Tom Abercrombie
It doesn’t matter how much or how little Tom Abercrombie plays in Friday’s clash with Brisbane ... it’s his night.

New Zealand will have a second chance to push their Finals charge forward in Round 20 given their double-header across the final weekend of the season, but if they finish fifth or below and don’t make it past the Play-In series, this will be Abercrombie’s final game in front of the home New Zealand fans.

For fans of a certain age it’s impossible not to think of Tom Abercrombie when you think of the Breakers. He’s been the heart and soul of that organisation for so long, and the loyalty he’s dedicated to the club over the past 16 years has been truly admirable.

While a win will certainly be the main goal for New Zealand against the Bullets, that might almost take a back seat for the fans. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that a homegrown legend like Abercrombie is never seen in the NBL again, so it’s time to celebrate one of the all-time great New Zealand basketballers, and one of the all-time great New Zealand people.

“The constant for that Breakers organisation has always been Tom Abercrombie. They’ve had Dillon Boucher, Paul Henare, Mika Vukona, these guys are New Zealand basketball royalty, but Tom Abercrombie has outlasted them all, and that’s a testament to the quality of person he is and how he was brought up. He’s a North Shore kid, he’s entrenched in that basketball scene since when he was in high school.” – Andrew Mulligan on NBL Now.

Rocco Zikarsky
Rocco Zikarsky has established himself as one of the great cult heroes of the NBL this season. His jersey is the sixth top selling competition wide, and fans from around the league are beginning to see him as one of the leaders in the new generation of emerging Boomers.

The 17-year-old has been used in fits and spurts this season, and he had one of his best performances of the season in the Bullets’ Round 12 matchup with New Zealand.

He played a season-high 13:15 in the defeat, and he contributed strongly with seven points, four rebounds and a pair of monster blocks.

Although the Bullets eventually lost that matchup, Zikarsky was an absolute game-changer in what had been a tepid – at best – clash up until that point, and he gave his team and the home crowd energy and life.

A win in this clash would be enough to see the Bullets lock in Finals hoops, but seeing as they’ve lost three of their last five games, and each of their last four defeats have come by double digits, Brisbane could need to change something up and offer a point of difference to get over the line against the Breakers.

If that’s the case, enter Rocco Zikarksy.

“I have all praise to give to Rocco, because he’s managing everything very well, and he’s at that age where you think 'you should be doing this or that on the court', this guy just wants to win no matter what the situation may be, he just wants to go out in practice and games and give 100 per cent effort. That’s the sign of a true champion, and a guy who is only going to get better and stick around long-term'.” – Casey Prather mid-week.

Parker Jackson-Cartwright vs Nathan Sobey
Sometimes the key matchup in a game is as simple as each team’s best offensive weapons going head-to-head, and that’s exactly what will be the case when New Zealand and Brisbane clash on Friday night.

Both Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Nathan Sobey are coming off stellar individual performances in Round 19, and if and when either side locks in its spot in the competition’s top six, it will be in no small part to ‘PJC’ and Sobey’s contributions over the course of the season.

Jackson-Cartwright had 31 points and seven assists in New Zealand’s Round 19 win over Illawarra, before he added 24 points and five assists in the Breakers’ loss to Melbourne.

Sobey, on the other hand, dropped a career-high 37 points in Brisbane’s heady victory over Adelaide, which is made all the more impressive by the fact he didn’t even score in the opening term.

Which in-form offensive superstar can lead their team to a victory on Friday and, as an extension, a likely Finals position?

The away team has won the last four clashes between and Brisbane. The last time the home side won the meeting between these two sides was in Round 8 last season, where 29 points from Jarrell Brantley saw the Breakers canter to a 37-point win at Spark Arena.