R5 Preview: Sydney Kings vs New Zealand Breakers

Friday, February 12, 2021

The Kings found their mojo last round and now finally arrive home in the Harbour City, while the Breakers found out just how tough life on the road can be.

When: 7.30pm (AEDT), Friday 12 February

Where: Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

Broadcast: ESPN; Sky Sports NZ; SBS On Demand; Twitch

The last time
New Zealand 88 (Hopson 30, Loe 18, Weeks 14) d Sydney 81 (Tate 22, Ware 17, Cooks 12), Round 16, 2019/20, TSB Stadium, New Plymouth

With an 11-11 record and a home double against Sydney and Melbourne, the Breakers’ playoffs hopes looked in danger, but thanks to Scotty Hopson’s 30-point masterpiece they managed to stun the Bogut-less Kings, as Casper Ware and Shaun Bruce went a combined 2-of-16 from range and the Kiwis grabbed 90 per cent of the boards at their defensive end to unleash Hop and Co in transition.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Who else remembers Rob Loe ending the game last January in New Plymouth?<br><br>See you again Friday <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UNBREAKABLE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UNBREAKABLE</a> <a href="https://t.co/BZvuDV9zJh">pic.twitter.com/BZvuDV9zJh</a></p>— Sky Sport Breakers (@NZBreakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers/status/1359616036698427392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The now
New Zealand failed to own their d-boards in Cairns on Monday, but that was far from the worst of their worries. The Breakers looked dispirited, perhaps prompting Kings owner Paul Smith to launch a generous campaign to support their road-bound opponents. The Breakers’ defence was non-existent at times, and apart from some late creativity from Lamar Patterson, the offence never found a way to deal with the Taipans’ switching schemes as they settled for jumpshots.

While that performance was out of character for a side featuring five members of New Zealand’s tenacious national team, the Kings showed plenty in their impressive road win over Adelaide. The protectionist drops defence that was successful for the majority of last season was used sparsely, and in its place aggressive were hard shows and traps – backed by excellent help and recover D – that never let the 36ers find any offensive rhythm and assert their usual paint dominance.

The stats

- In their Round 3 loss to Adelaide the Kings conceded 50 points in the paint. In last week’s rematch they allowed just 26

- In their sole win, New Zealand took 22 attempts from both the free throw and three-point lines. In three losses, they’ve averaged 34.7 triples and 16.7 foul shots

- Lamar Patterson and Tai Webster are dishing a combined 7.2 assists per game, while no other Breaker is averaging above 1.2

- The Kings have nine players averaging more than 1.2apg, including seven currently active players and led by Shaun Bruce’s 4apg

The key men

Lamar Patterson – How do you solve a problem like Lamarvellous? His true shooting percentage (44%) ranks him bottom 10 amongst players with enough shot attempts, while his turnover percentage (16.1%) has him bottom 20 in the NBL.

However, when NZ charged to victory in Cairns it was Patterson driving the bus, and his 5 assists on Monday injected some badly-needed selflessness into the Breakers’ play. Perhaps small ball-heavy bursts are the best way to utilise this out-of-condition superstar?

Jarell Martin – This man can score – it’s no surprise he’s averaging 19 shot attempts in wins and 11 in losses – and his versatility will test the high-IQ but less mobile Rob Loe. Martin went 3-of-6 from range in Adelaide last round, and a repeat could open up NZ’s interior.

Where Martin really improved last round was his ability to impact ball screens in Sydney’s new defensive schemes, and that will be crucial against NZ’s on-ball heavy offence, which uses mis-directions and hand-offs to take help defence away from the screening action.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">An immediate impact from <a href="https://twitter.com/MartinJarell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MartinJarell</a> <br><br>He’s got 9 points in the first quarter. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> <a href="https://t.co/FndfXlImSf">pic.twitter.com/FndfXlImSf</a></p>— Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1357982625063858180?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The quotes

When the New Zealand Breakers got on the winners’ list on Saturday in Cairns, the Taipans simply had no answer for their quality execution down the stretch.

With a rematch two nights later, coach Mike Kelly and his staff made a simple decision – they wouldn’t let New Zealand beat them with system, using switching D to make them play one-on-one basketball.

“We didn’t have a lot of flow in our game,” coach Dan Shamir said.

“They came with a lot of switches, which by definition takes a little bit of your flow, because versus switches you can do various things but primarily you attack mismatches and that did not go well for us in the beginning.”

It’s a classic trap Joey Wright’s high-flying Adelaide teams laid for opponents around the NBL, taking away the team component of their play if they decided to attack the first available mismatch, rather than continuing to move the ball to advantageous positions.

In New Zealand’s case, with Cairns containing penetration well, they regularly ended up shooting contested shots, landing just 4-of-28 from long range.

After spending much of Monday night in Shamir’s doghouse, Lamar Patterson finally provided some penetration and passing for the Breakers, recording three of his five dimes in New Zealand’s final-quarter run.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The comeback is...<br><br>potentially on/Tom<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NZBatCNS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NZBatCNS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/sN6yT77Ypi">pic.twitter.com/sN6yT77Ypi</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1358721305034452994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“The end of the last game was very positive from Lamar and we know what he can do, and also today the fourth quarter was very positive,” Shamir said.

“In terms of what we run, what we want to do, I think there is no difference there, we need to look at different things but I think we are putting people in good places, in good spots, we have a good system and I'm sure it will be visible at some point.”

Meanwhile it Adelaide, it was the Kings playing the role of disruptors as their aggressive approach threw the Sixers out of their sets.

Ware and fellow import Jarell Martin combined for 50 points at 51 per cent, but they’re performances started at the defensive end, with 15 of Ware’s 27 coming in the final term after the 36ers had been blown out of the water.

“Offence comes and goes, but defence can stay there the whole game,” Ware said.

Coach Adam Forde was delighted with Martin’s best two-way performance of the season, and the team-first approach of his team as they dished 19 dimes.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Check out some of the best bits from last night's big time road win over the Adelaide 36ers. <br><br>If you haven't yet grabbed your tickets for next week's home games you can do so here: <a href="https://t.co/vBZ7LxKTOZ">https://t.co/vBZ7LxKTOZ</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> <a href="https://t.co/gfRBGCORmz">pic.twitter.com/gfRBGCORmz</a></p>— Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1358235028845600771?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“(Martin) played 28 minutes and was 9-of-17, 3-of-6 from three-point land and was great when switching onto a guard. I’m happy he’s on our team,” Forde said.

“It’s a credit to Casper and Brucey that they got Jarell involved.”

Now Martin gets to finally introduce himself to the Kings’ fanbase, with Forde and Co delighted to be home at last.

“It’s going to be a surreal feeling I think, it’s a long time since our last home game,” Forde said.

“I know the boys are looking forward to it, I know I'm looking forward to it, to have the support of the crowd. When the momentum shifts that can help influence things in our favour.

“It’s just great to be on our home court for the first time in 10 or 11 months.”

There is no such luxury for the Breakers, who are bravely battling through what could be a season on the road, one that will be much more bearable if they are winning.

“It’s not easy to be in a hotel room all the time and away from your home. That’s a fact,” Shamir said.

“It’s tougher when you lose, definitely. (Usually) when you can go away from the game, you can away from the team even just a bit.

“We knew it was coming, we knew we were going to face these adversities, and we have to be strong.”