Basketball: Breakers hoping two from three might be enough

5.00pm - By ROBERT LOWE

Centre Iona Enosa believes two wins from the last three games could be enough to get the New Zealand Breakers into the Australian National Basketball League (ANBL) playoffs.

The Breakers' post-season hopes have been kept alive with five successive victories, but the Auckland-based club still needs other results to go their way.

They also face the league's top two sides in their next two outings, starting with the Sydney Kings away tomorrow night.

Enosa said the atmosphere at training this week was upbeat after the recent run of success.

"It has been a big accomplishment for us to get five wins, especially when we've needed it most," the 2.08m American Samoan centre said.

"We've got three more games left. If we can get two out of three, we could be all right."

The Kings, the defending champions, have a winning streak of their own, with their midweek defeat of the Cairns Taipans extending their tally to four in a row.

They also won both their previous encounters with the Breakers, when Enosa believed the key difference between the teams was mental.

"We lacked concentration," he said.

"We're getting over it, but we're not there yet. We've been practising on doing our own thing, sticking to our game plan, and going out there and playing hard."

Earlier this week, Enosa escaped suspension after being charged with unsportsmanlike behaviour in the win over the Victoria Giants two games ago.

Instead, the ANBL tribunal fined him $1500 over an incident involving opposition forward Marcus Wright.

Enosa was disappointed with the outcome, having pleaded not guilty to the charge.

"I thought it was unfair, because he started it and I got the bad end of the deal," he said.

"I'm not happy about it, but there's nothing I can do."

In assessing the punishment, the tribunal took into account the fact that Enosa had already appeared before it this season. In November, he was banned for two games for head-butting.

Teammate Pero Cameron, charged with striking after a separate incident against the Giants, was handed a one-match ban and a $2500 fine, and won't take the court against the Kings.

The tribunal expressed concern that the Breakers, either individually or as a team, had been charged six times this season.

Enosa said discipline was something coach Frank Arsego and the players had discussed this week, but blamed most of the incidents on player frustration at opposition tactics and refereeing calls.

"We have to try to find ways to solve the problem and we've come up with some good strategies."

However, he added that the Breakers wouldn't be changing their playing style too much.

"I don't think so. We'll go out on court and do our own thing. We should be all right."

- NZPA