Basketball: Breakers confident they can cover Bruton loss

Shooting guard CJ Bruton is out for at least two weeks with a torn patella. Photo / Getty Images

Shooting guard CJ Bruton is out for at least two weeks with a torn patella but the Breakers are confident they have the depth to cope with the setback.

Bruton has been troubled by tendinitis in his knees for some time. It has caused him much discomfort and pushed his normally reliable shooting out of whack, but despite a recent scan confirming more serious damage to a kneecap, coach Andrej Lemanis said the 35-year-old would be ruled out for only a short period.

"It's just an injury that requires him to rest. We've been told right now that it's two weeks," Lemanis said.

That fortnight is likely to represent at least four games, starting with tomorrow night's (Fri) game against the Melbourne Tigers at the North Shore Events Centre, the Breakers' 100th at the venue.

He is also likely to miss the home game against the Gold Coast Blaze next Thursday, the away game against the Adelaide 36ers on December 11 and the home match against the Cairns Taipans on December 16.

Bruton's lay-off brings to an end a run of 83 consecutive ANBL games for the player dating back to January 2009. He has missed only two games since joining the Breakers in 2008 - and the club lost both.

Lemanis said the depth in the squad - with Daryl Corletto on the rise and Leon Henry returning from a shin injury - meant Bruton's absence could be papered over.

"He's obviously been hampered by it for the last couple of weeks anyway and last week he only played six minutes so it's timely that Leon has coming back from his injury," Lemanis said. "[Leon] is working his way back into the squad and certainly, what we've done as a club is built ourselves into a position where we've got a good, talented team, and a deep team and we're able to cover injuries.

"Daryl is getting more and more comfortable with our group and where he fits into our systems."

The Breakers, now with a six-win three-loss record, snapped a two-game losing streak with their comeback victory over the Townsville Crocodiles last week but they did it the hard way following a sluggish start, having to overcome a 23-point deficit at Vector Arena.

However, Lemanis said he was satisfied with where the Breakers were at, even offensively where the side has been a little off this season.

"From last week hopefully one change we can make is coming out with a better focus and energy mentally but it's not like that's a problem, it's not like we've done that every week, it was just last week," said Lemanis.