Basketball: Big man Breakers' Chief asset

Alex Pledger's confidence is growing in every outing for the Breakers. Photo / Getty Images

Game one of the ANBL finals series didn't look like going so well for Breakers' big man Alex Pledger.

After subbing on for Gary Wilkinson, Pledger's opening contribution was to float around absent-mindedly under the hoop while Dusty Rychart jumped over him for an offensive rebound. Coach Andrej Lemanis hooked him after barely a minute.

The message was clear - shape up or sit down. Pledger returned a different player, turning in one of the most dominant displays of his fledgling career as the Breakers pounded the Taipans into submission.

From a distance it looked as if Lemanis had given the man known as Chief a severe kick up the butt. Turns out it was more of a pat.

"He just told me to relax and said 'you are the biggest guy on both teams, go out there and play like it'," Pledger said.

The 2.13m Pledger did exactly that, scoring 13 points from six of seven field goal attempts and throwing down a highlight reel second-half basket that put the exclamation mark on his side's victory.

How Pledger uses his massive frame will be one of the decisive factors in tomorrow's second game in Cairns. His game-one effort helped the Breakers out-score the Taipans 28-20 in the paint, and dominate the offensive boards 17-9. If the Breakers can repeat those sort of numbers there will be no game three.

"We ain't gonna win a game if we get out-rebounded," Cairns coach Aaron Fearne admitted. "We need to address that at home. If we don't turn it around it will be over. We don't plan on them celebrating on our floor so we'll be working hard to bring it back [to Auckland]."

Pledger's resurgence just in time for the playoffs has been a huge boost for the Breakers. The 24-year-old made a strong start to the season but was badly out of sorts midway through the campaign and shaped mainly as a bench-warmer for the playoffs. But with Wilkinson's court time limited by a lingering chest infection and Mika Vukona picking up a knee injury, Pledger has been thrust firmly into the fray. So far he has put the increased game time to good use, with his confidence growing in every outing. Effervescent team-mate CJ Bruton has been instrumental in helping him pick up his bottom lip, not to mention his form.

"CJ just has this amazing ability to keep everyone confident," Pledger said. "We all know that he never loses his swagger. The guys are just constantly reminding me to not worry about things and just have fun out there. And I've been having a lot of fun out there in the last few games.

"Hopefully I can produce something similar in game two and we can end this thing."

The Taipans have an imposing home record, having lost just two games at the Cairns Convention Centre this season. But one of those defeats was inflicted by the Breakers.

The Breakers will also be boosted by their success in Perth, when their backs were firmly against the wall.

"We have been the best road team all year so we are confident going in there," Pledger said.

"I think it will be a similar type atmosphere to that second Perth game. The [Cairns] fans are just as ruthless and get after you just as hard.

"But we have a lot of guys in this team who love being the bad guy. They thrive in that environment.

"We are treating it like a must-win game. You will see the same intensity, the same effort, the same passion that you saw on Wednesday night."

And just maybe another wild dunk or two from the Chief.

"I don't even know if you can qualify that as a dunk ... I just threw it in the general direction of the rim and luckily it went straight in."

Grand final 2
* Breakers v Cairns
* Cairns, 6pm tomorrow