Basketball: Breakers rally round championship flag

Dillon Boucher. Photo / Getty Images

The Breakers will raise their first championship banner at the North Shore Events Centre tonight and for Dillon Boucher it will be eight years after he expected to see it.

The 35-year-old forward was part of the Breakers' inaugural side in 2003 and, after they won their first match 111-110 over Adelaide, Boucher was bullish about his side's chances of winning the title in their first season. But they finished 10th of the 12 teams, which cost coach Jeff Green his job and it was a bleak existence being a Breakers player in the early years.

That's why tonight's banner raising will be such a special moment for Boucher. Unlike most at the club, he knows how it is to lose 46 games across two seasons or to be painted as the troublemaker in a dysfunctional club.

"My whole career, all I have ever focused on is winning," says Boucher. "It was hard going in those early years with the Breakers but the last couple of years have been very rewarding and very successful.

"In the early years it seemed a far cry because we were always near the bottom of the pack. But this club has stuck to it and got better and better each year. When we started to regularly beat teams, I definitely thought it was a possibility and, the more we started adding pieces to the puzzle, it definitely became more apparent this team could win a championship. To have now done it, the challenge now is to win another one."

They've made a decent start. They sit top after four wins from five games which is an impressive return considering their first four games were on the road.

They played their first home game against Sydney last Friday in front of 6500 at Vector Arena but delayed the banner raising ceremony until their first game back on the North Shore.

The Breakers will be favourites tonight to extend their winning streak over the 36ers to eight games. But the South Australians produced the upset of the season so far with a road win over title favourites Perth in their last start; their first win of the season.

The Breakers have enough depth to contend with Adelaide. They struggled at times against Sydney last week as they tried to adjust to the vagaries of playing at the Vector Arena but seasoned players such as CJ Bruton and Gary Wilkinson stepped up when they needed to assert themselves.

Without Kirk Penney, they have built a more all-round game and livewire point guard Cedric Jackson and experienced shooting guard Daryl Corletto appear to be handy acquisitions. They still haven't found their groove and it's something Boucher hopes they can discover soon.

"We are sitting first equal so we can't complain," he said.

"But we have a lot of improving to do before we are happy with where we are at. As a team, we are getting it done and getting wins but it's not exactly smooth sailing. We have a lot of improving to do before we can consider ourselves the top team in the league.

"It's like anything, it takes time. We have very good players but it's understanding how everyone plays. Kirk leaving, he dominated a lot of the offence and shot the ball a lot. Now there are a lot more opportunities for other guys. We move the ball a lot better and we have probably become better defensively this year."

Boucher will assess his future mid-season before his contract runs out at the end of the season. He's close to hanging up his oversized boots and will see if the club wants him and if he wants to play again.

Nights like this one might convince him to go again. After all, they don't happen often in these parts.

BREAKERS V ADELAIDE

Where: North Shore Events Centre.

When: 7.30 tonight.