Basketball: Mixed feelings for Olson as Breakers near ton

The New Zealand Breakers are zeroing in on a notable milestone, although for one old hand the basketball franchise's 100th game will not be the catalyst for wild celebrations.

Should the Australian National Basketball League's Auckland outpost prevent the Perth Wildcats' own slice of history at Trusts Stadium in Waitakere tomorrow night, there will still be a sense of what might have been for Aaron Olson.

The Canadian-raised Tall Black and his fellow guard Paul Henare have been at the club since that original tip-off against the Adelaide 36ers in October 2003 - and have logged game time in each of the club's 99 matches.

Given their longevity the pair are well placed to appraise the Breakers' history, and for the franchise's leading scorer there has been more bad than good.

"I have mixed emotions heading into the 100th game, mainly because the club's results haven't reflected the effort that has gone into training and the matches," Olson said.

"It's been up and down because we haven't had the success we wanted, but to play with Paulie [Henare] is a privilege.

"He's a great player and a great friend and I enjoy joining him in battle.

"I'm sure we'll appreciate the milestone more as time goes on, but at the moment I'm just proud that we've been resilient and fronted up through a lot of pain and injury."

The Breakers (31 wins, 68 losses) have never made the competition's playoffs in three attempts though last season they missed by one spot after a strong finish.

They made a good start to the 2006-07 campaign, beating newcomers the South Dragons and then a shoddy third quarter saw them lose 94-99 to the Sydney Kings last Thursday.

The Perth Wildcats, meanwhile, roll into town today intent on crashing the party and boasting a record to suggest they are capable of marring the celebrations.

On a four-match winning streak, the Western Australians need another victory to achieve their best start to a season in their 26-year history.

The Wildcats, who won twice in Auckland last year, have won six of their nine meetings.

- NZPA