Basketball: Henare hoping for a New Year resolution

Breakers coach Paul Henare speaks to his team during their loss in Sydney. Photo / Getty

Coach Paul Henare will know two truths about his Breakers heading into the New Year.

First, his team boasts enough talent that, with a little overdue injury luck, the Breakers absolutely have the ability to make a playoff run in the Australian NBL.

But, second, such success will be impossible if his players continue to hurt themselves in ways extending beyond their unfortunate physical health.

Those intertwined realities were reflected in Friday night's five-point loss to the Sydney Kings, a game the Breakers had no business winning but, equally, one they eventually threw away.

Yet another injury - this one to point guard David Stockton two minutes into the game - severely limited Henare's rotations in Sydney and, in the end, proved a hurdle too steep to overcome.

But, at the same time, that hurdle would have been easily cleared had the Breakers stopped turning over the ball and starting making their foul shots, two problems that have plagued their campaign.

Already second-worst in the competition in the statistic, the Breakers coughed up 15 turnovers in the second half against Sydney to finish the game with an unacceptable 20. And all those miscues were exacerbated by the visitors' inaccuracy from the free-throw line, making an appalling 16-of-31 to maintain bottom spot in the league in that category.

"That's the game right there," Henare said of his side's 51 per cent success rate. "You can't expect to win on the road when you go 16-of-31. That's the bottom line. You add 20 turnovers to that and it does make it hard. All of those things are controllable."

As Henare would point out, the turnovers were partially attributable to the paucity of options in the Breakers back-field, finishing the game with a newly-acquired small forward running the point.

Paul Carter did impress on debut - typically at his more accustomed position on the wing - and the performance of those players still fit enough to take the court were definitely a positive for the Breakers. At 21, Finn Delany showed youthful exuberance at both ends of the court in his maiden start, while Shea Ili battled hard in all areas before fouling out in the final minutes.

"I was obviously disappointed with the loss but part of me is just extremely proud of the guys, proud of Shea for holding the fort for as long as he did," Henare said. "I'm extremely proud of [Delany] for coming in and playing his arse off - and he can actually play as well. I couldn't be more happy for Finn and he'll only get better from this experience."

As will the Breakers, provided they can keep treading water until the return of Tom Abercrombie, at least. The veteran will likely be sidelined with a broken hand for another three weeks, while there was no immediate word on Stockton's prognosis after a collision saw the American limp out of the Sydney clash in the opening moments.

Victory over the Kings could have lifted the Breakers as high as third but, once the round is complete, the loss will leave them as low as seventh, such is the nature of this year's league. At 8-10, the Kiwi club are still well in the playoff hunt with 10 games to play, but Henare knows that standing will improve only if his charges make amendments in the aforementioned areas.

"The guys are bitterly disappointed right now but my job is to make sure they keep that belief," the coach said. "If we can play like that and just tidy up a few things, we're going to be in a good place. The ball is still in our court, in terms of what our season looks like, and that's always a good place to be."