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KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand Breakers want to make sure their mental approach is right as they try to build some momentum ahead of the Australian National Basketball League playoffs.
At one stage top of the table, they have dropped to fourth after losing eight of their past nine matches
and they face a scrap to ensure home advantage in the first round of the finals.
To guarantee that they host a playoff clash for the first time in their six-year history, the Breakers have to win one of their two remaining regular season fixtures.
The first is against the visiting Cairns Taipans tomorrow night, the second is away to the Sydney Spirit on Saturday.
Shooting guard Kirk Penney has no doubts the club can achieve their goal of a home quarterfinal despite their slump in results, which includes their present run of five defeats in a row.
"Physically we've got the tools, it's just getting our mental approach right," he said.
"When you're winning, everything is rosy. With losses, that can tend to sway a little bit, so it's making sure we're staying on top of that."
Penney said he couldn't put his finger on why the Breakers, who were building up head of steam heading into the New Year, should suddenly hit a road block when 2009 was ushered in.
One possible reason was that the schedule earlier on might have been deceptive, whereas last month, the Breakers met the top two sides, the South Dragons and the Melbourne Tigers, a total of four times in a two-week period.
"We're trying to put it in perspective," Penney said.
"Nothing is lost yet. We're still the same team that has beaten every other team at some point in the season. There's no one we fear and don't believe we can beat."
Cairns, like Sydney, are out of playoff contention, but Penney said the Breakers were bracing for a tough battle with the Taipans, whose players would want to impress to secure roster spots for next season.
He also noted that the Taipans had also beaten the Breakers twice in the teams' three previous meetings this season.
"We're a quality team and we don't want to lose any series," Penney said.
"It doesn't matter if they're in contention or not. They're a team we need to beat because we need to get some wins going into the playoffs."
The Breakers' poor run has coincided with injuries to Penney and star point guard C J Bruton, with both players spending time on the sidelines.
Bruton has been playing his way back to full fitness over the past month, while Penney returns after missing the past two matches - road defeats to Wollongong and Adelaide.
Penney said he had got over both a knee problem and a nasal infection which prevented him from travelling last week.
The five to six days' rest had done his knee a world of good and he didn't expect any problems over the remainder of the campaign, while antibiotics had put paid to the infection.
Despite sitting out against the Hawks and 36ers, Penney remains the competition's top scorer with 644 points.
- NZPA
