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SYDNEY - Coach Andrej Lemanis slammed his New Zealand Breakers' lack of playoff desperation as a 99-117 defeat to Melbourne Tigers last night left them a mountain to climb to stay alive in the Australian National Basketball League (ANBL).
The Breakers never looked likely against the talent-laden Tigers who raced to a 61-46 halftime lead then twisted the knife with a 32-24 third quarter in game one of the best-of-three semifinals in Melbourne.
It left the Breakers needing a big turnaround in game two at their home gym in Auckland tomorrow night, just to keep their hopes of a maiden grand final appearance alive.
Game three, if required, is back at The Cage in Melbourne on Sunday but a sobering statistic is that 11 of the past 12 ANBL semifinal series have been won 2-0.
The 18-point defeat was the Breakers' equal worst losing margin of the season.
The visitors had a royal chance to stamp some authority on the series, fresh from a 131-101 quarterfinal hiding of Adelaide, but instead a sleepy start left their coach lamenting what might have been.
"What was disappointing was how we came out. The energy and desperation wasn't what we saw tonight. They set the tone early and we never really recovered," Lemanis said.
"When you are playing for your life, you think you will bring energy to it and that was disappointing.
"It seemed like every time we made a run, it got back out in a hurry. The way they shot really affected us. We have to do a better job of defending that (in game two). " The usually mild-mannered Lemanis made his feelings plain with an expletive-laden spray at his players after calling the first time-out, causing the television director to hit the mute button as the cameras loomed in on the team huddle.
The Tigers were outstanding from long range, shooting 10-of-15 from three-point range in the first half and 16-of-32 for the game, their best effort of the season.
The Breakers, who were expected to have the edge in that department, shot 14-of-35 from beyond the arc, a respectable 40 per cent but not in the same league as their hosts.
Star point guard CJ Bruton shot 6-of-11 from three-point range in his 22-point haul but his fellow shooters were kept well in check. The league's leading scorer Kirk Penney was heavily marked and made just 7-of-17 from the field in his 19 points while veteran Tony Ronaldson had a big first quarter but got in early foul trouble, ending with 18 points.
Dillon Boucher toiled hard in a beaten side with 10 rebounds and eight assists.
The Tigers could barely miss in the first three quarters, with Luke Kendall eventually topscoring with 25 points and Ebi Ere adding 23, while David Barlow was huge with 23 points and 14 rebounds.
The visitors were also called for endless fouls as the Tigers shot 25 of 31 from the freethrow line.
Tigers coach Al Westover, unbeaten in seven ANBL semifinal games, rated it his side's best shooting effort of the year and challenged them to top it at the North Shore Events Centre tomorrow.
Ere, who won an ANBL title with Brisbane in 2007 alongside Bruton and Boucher, summed up the Tigers' effort to unsettle the visitors.
"We shot the ball well but it was the effort we put in on defence. All night we tried to get at them so we could get out and run and get those easy looks we got in the first half," he said.
- NZPA
