Basketball: Bruton's knees letting him down

CJ Bruton. Photo / Getty Images

When CJ Bruton signed for the Breakers, he told coach Andrej Lemanis he didn't do ice baths. Last week, he slipped into the freezing waters of one in an attempt to heal his ailing knees. Desperate times and all that.

The 35-year-old winner of four Australian National Basketball League championships averages 16.1 points a game and 43 per cent from the field in his 437-game career. But his numbers this season look positively anaemic in comparison.

He's averaging only 9.4 points and shooting at a paltry 28.8 per cent.

He was 0/9 from the field in more than 26 minutes against Cairns on Sunday, when the Breakers went down 80-78 after leading by 11 points in the third quarter.

It was the second time he went scoreless this season.

"I have had quite a few doughnuts in my time," he says with a wry smile. "When you play as many games as I have, you are going to have a few of those. But not at this time of my career, I really don't care to have them. I will take a win over having a doughnut any time but right now, yeah, making a few shots would have helped us win a ball game."

Bruton possesses an undying confidence in his game and expects to make his next shot - and the one after that. But his knees are betraying him. His rhythm is out of kilter because he can't get the flex in them that he needs.

He's sitting out most practice sessions in a bid to rest his knees - he's suffering tendinitis in one and bone bruising in the other - but he also knows he might need to sit out periods of games or even full matches to help his teammates in the long run.

"I try to sugar-coat it as much as I can but when you walk and run you need to be able to bend," he says. "Right now, my timing is a little off.

"I always want to help the boys and I always want to play. I'm still a little kid. My drive for the game is still there. Right now is the time I really need to be smart. If I can help the team, I will but I don't want to hurt the team at any stage and I feel right now me practising is not going to benefit this team in the long run."

The team have lost their last two to drop to third on the table. A third consecutive defeat to Townsville at Vector Arena tonight would signal a problem after a good start.

There is enough offensive firepower on the Breakers roster to handle Bruton's woes but they would prefer to have him back in the groove. Lemanis, though, isn't concerned about Bruton's absence from training.

"CJ is a veteran," he said. "He can rock up after not playing for a month and still have an impact on the game."

Bruton's contract is up at the end of the season and he is still regarded as a 10-point player (each player is ranked from one to 10 and clubs must keep their squad under 70). He wants to play another season but his body also needs to play ball if he's to convince the Breakers to invest in him again.

It might mean a few more ice baths.