The Rise and Rise of the New Zealand Breakers

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

If you tipped the New Zealand Breakers to be on top of the NBL23 ladder after five weeks you’d likely be called a liar, a seer, biased, or a combination of all three.

If you tipped the New Zealand Breakers to be on top of the NBL23 ladder after five weeks during the pre-season you’d likely be called a liar, a seer, biased, or a combination of all three. But, seemingly against all odds, they currently sit pretty atop the standings ahead of a matchup with the Sydney Kings this weekend.

After finishing bottom last season, undergoing a major roster reshuffle, and appointing a first-time head coach in Mody Maor, the expectations were that while they almost certainly couldn't do worse than their five win season in NBL22, this would likely be a streaky season of transition for the Breakers - and the pre-season eye injury to captain Tom Abercrombie only hammered home these predicitions.

Instead, they've shocked all to have already won more games than they did in the entirety of last season.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We hope you're well rested after sleeping on us ?It's time for the NBL to wake up now.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UNBREAKABLE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UNBREAKABLE</a> <a href="https://t.co/fDopyk0ME1">pic.twitter.com/fDopyk0ME1</a></p>— Sky Sport New Zealand Breakers (@NZBreakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers/status/1586818373786009601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

After kick-starting their campaign with an overtime loss to Melbourne they’ve since gone on to win six of their last seven games, including contesting their last six clashes in just 15 days – five of which have been played on the road.

It would be fair to say they've had one of the most taxing openings to the season of any side in the competition, but they've emerged from a tough run on the road absolutely sparkling.

“What went into that is the human quality we have in the locker room, and the fact we have one goal,” Breakers head coach Mody Maor said after Sunday's win over Tasmania.

“Everybody’s committed to it and they’re working their asses off.

“We’re very, very far from satisfied. Very, very far. The group knows this – out expectations from ourselves are high. From high expectations become high demands.”

New Zealand has largely built its early identity on defensive intensity and rebounding prowess this season, and imports Dererk Pardon and Jarrell Brantley have been key parts of the physicality and intimidation factor the Breakers possess in the paint.

Pardon finished Sunday’s rampant victory over Tasmania with 15 points and 14 rebounds - with six of those rebounds coming on the offensive end. Brantley himself had 11 points and eight boards.

After backup centre Rob Loe was forced out of the game with a head knock after just 54 seconds on the court, Tom Vodanovich ably pinch-hit at the five and finished with a highly respectable 10 points and five boards. In reality, with their defensive intensity and gritty determination, they out JackJumpered the JackJumpers.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">dominANT performance. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UNBREAKABLE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UNBREAKABLE</a> <a href="https://t.co/LAJJzgacIN">pic.twitter.com/LAJJzgacIN</a></p>— Sky Sport New Zealand Breakers (@NZBreakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers/status/1586583241309708288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The scary part of New Zealand’s win, and their latest handful of victories, has been their ability to hit the three-ball and knock down big shots. They shot 55 per cent from the field against Tasmania and hit 13 of their 30 three-point attempts. Barry Brown Jr was, yet again, the chief destroyer on the offensive end with 24 points.

As the season has progressed, even in its early stages, the Breakers are evolving from a defensively astute, grind-it-out style team into a side that has the dangerous ability to play an exciting brand of run-and-gun basketball.

Maor says his side is only just beginning to heat up.

“This is what I thought we are. I wasn’t sure how we would do it without Tom (Abercrombie) and guys have stepped up significantly,” he said.

“I still think we can be better. I still think there’s more versatility when we get Tom back that gives us more solutions, we get deeper, Tom’s a first-team all-defence NBL guy.

“We’re far from satisfied. There’s a lot more for this team to be better at and we’re going to keep working until we get the best results.

“[Barry Brown Jr] is far from a finished product. The same goes for Will McDowell-White, and Izayah Le’afa, and Rayan Rupert, and Jarrell Brantley, and Dererk Pardon.

“We left Adelaide at 4am, got delayed 7000 times, landed, guys went to the gym – we went straight to the gym – and I didn’t need to ask for focus, intensity, anything. They just came in and did the work and it shows.”

Aside from the on-court boost that Abercrombie will provide the Breakers upon his return – which will only be amplified should Loe be sidelined with his head knock – having the veteran back on court and leading from the front will only help improve a team culture that already looks to be thriving.

Abercrombie has played his whole career with the Breakers and has experienced every high and low the organisation has endured since his NBL debut in 2008. From the four championships in five years of the early 2010’s, to the bottom-placed finish and the Covid travel hubs of more recent campaigns, he's been through it all.

The number has become synonymous with the Breakers’ brand in his near 15 years of service to the organisation, and with six of New Zealand’s next eight games coming at home he’ll have his first chance to play in front of his biggest fans for the first time in over 18 months.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tom Abercrombie will be returning to the court next week for Sunday's match up against the Sydney Kings.<br> <br>You have till 12.12am tonight to buy tickets to the Sydney Kings game next Sunday and you'll automatically go in the draw to win a seat upgrade and signed jersey <a href="https://t.co/jhyhNF1tcX">pic.twitter.com/jhyhNF1tcX</a></p>— Sky Sport New Zealand Breakers (@NZBreakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers/status/1586591226475663360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Getting Tom back is awesome,” Maor said. “It’s going to be great for us as a group, it’s going to be great for him.

“There isn’t a better person who deserves to be on the floor and compete and play and be with us.”

After leaving the Sydney Kings to return to his hometown side this season, Vodanovich has been a key part of the Breakers’ rise.

When asked about what they key to their impressive run of form has been, he had a simple response.

“We’re just in that sort of mode at the moment … we’re a tight-knit unit.”

New Zealand hosts the reigning champions – and Vodanovich’s former side – the Sydney Kings on Sunday, November 6 at Spark Arena.

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