Basketball: The element linking current New Zealand Breakers with last team to appear in Australian NBL playoffs

The NZ Breakers will return to the NBL playoffs this weekend. Photo / Getty Images

A lot of water has gone under the bridge since the last time the New Zealand Breakers were in the NBL playoffs.

In the five years since their most recent post-season berth, the team has had a change in ownership, three different head coaches, 46 players have made their Breakers debut, and their colour scheme has changed. Of those on the roster during the short-lived 2017-18 playoff run, only Tom Abercrombie and Rob Loe are still with the team.

But while a lot has changed with the club, Loe said there had been one big element that linked the current Breakers lineup with their last playoffs team.

“The foundation of this team is pretty similar to what it was with that team. We focused on defence and, as the saying always goes, defence wins championships,” Loe said.

“We’ve put great systems in place for us to achieve that.”

The Breakers will bring playoff basketball back to Auckland on Sunday night, taking on the Tasmania Jackjumpers in the first game in a best-of-three series. Finishing second on the table in the regular season, the Breakers get home advantage for their semifinal matchup, meaning if all three games are required in the series, the Kiwi outfit will play at home twice.

This season has seen the club reconnect with the local fan base, building on the relationship that was impacted by them having to base themselves in Australia for two seasons due to Covid-19.

Rediscovering their identity and affiliation with their home fans was a big focus for new head coach Mody Maor this season, and he moved early to ensure everyone in the team shared his goals.

“Mody’s come in and put a focus on a culture that he wants. It starts with defence, but also off the court; we’re really together, you know, we hang out in the locker room and you know, on the road, we’re going out for meals and things,” Loe said. “It’s just something Mody has installed and all the players have bought into.”

“We had a good conversation over dinner before the season started and talked about what he needs from me and what he wants from me and what is what he expected our role to be.

“I think he did that with everyone on the team. Just that, that starting conversation, with all of us, we kind of bought into what we need to do for the success of the team, and I think we’ve done a good job of it so far. Hopefully, we continue going and we’ve got a really important match on Sunday.”

The Breakers go into their semifinal series against Tasmania with the regular season advantage, having won three of the four meetings between the sides throughout the season, although Tasmania won the most recent encounter.

In those three meetings, the Breakers have limited the opposition to an average of 74 points per game. It’s a better mark than their overall number for the season, during which the Breakers were the best defensive team in the competition and limited opponents to 80 points per game on average.

The series could be one that is won on the defensive end, too. Tasmania had the second-best defence in the league, allowing 82 points per game.

While reaching the playoffs and ending that long drought is one thing, Loe said the team had much higher expectations in the weeks ahead.

“We’re trying to put more of those banners up in the rafters for championships because that’s what this club prides itself on.”