Basketball: Breakers size up rivals

The New Zealand Breakers will get an early test of their Australian National Basketball League credentials with two tough away matches this week.

The Breakers have been widely touted as one of the favourites for the new eight-team league and did nothing to dispel that with a clinical 20-point victory over the Cairns Taipans last Thursday.

But the team's record in Australia has not been spectacular since their inception, and they next face two teams against whom their records are particularly poor.

Tonight they face the Melbourne Tigers, the team who knocked them out of the ANBL at the semifinal stage last season, and they then face the Adelaide 36ers on Saturday.

The Breakers have only beaten the Tigers once in 11 attempts in Melbourne - an 86-84 victory last year - and their record in Adelaide is little better, having one win in eight attempts.

But the team's away record improved markedly last season, a contributing factor to their best ANBL season to date, and the team is hopeful the improvement can continue this season.

"We did a really good job improving on the road last year, and we want to just make sure we do our recovery and do what we've got to do to be a good road team," shooting star Kirk Penney said after the Taipans match.

"It starts with Melbourne.

"They knocked us out of the semis, we should have a lot of fuel for the fire."

Penney, who scored 32 points against the Taipans, said the team needed to take confidence from their favouritism tag but not lose focus.

"I've been on teams before when you've been favourites and you've won it, and favourites and you haven't won it.

"It comes down to keeping saying to yourselves that you haven't won anything yet.

"We want to reach our potential, whatever that is, and we've got to keep working every day to get there."

The Tigers at first pulled out of the new ANBL but later returned and have signed a number of last year's squad.

They have also added Mark Worthington, a star in the past season for two teams which no longer exist - the 2008 minor premiership-winning Sydney Kings and last year's champion South Dragons team, who will co-captain the team with Nathan Crosswell.

However, they will play the early part of the season without captain and star centre Chris Anstey, who needs surgery for a hip injury.

- NZPA