KEY POINTS:
The Breakers have turned to their office boy to fill the boots of injured star CJ Bruton for a road double header that tips off against Wollongong Hawks tonight.
Luckily for the title-chasing NBL club, that office boy is Tall Blacks point guard Michael Fitchett.
A former development
player at the Breakers, the 26-year-old Fitchett rejoined the club this year as a member of its administration staff. Although his role has been primarily in organising and coaching school groups, Fitchett has also served as a regular stand-in at training.
So impressive has he been in the in-house skirmishes that coach Andrej Lemanis has called him up to face Wollongong and Sydney and expects to give him plenty of game time.
The call-up came as a shock to Fitchett, who was supposed to be spending New Year's Eve with his fiancee at a concert in Wanaka.
"It's a funny old world, how things work out," said Fitchett, who declined an offer of a second stint at the club as a development player and has instead worked his way into the line-up from a desk job.
"I'm not exactly a spring chicken, I'm 26 now and the development spots are generally used for younger guys.
"It is nice to be rewarded with some playing time and the chance for a bit of a run around. It is good to get the chance to test myself in that higher league again."
Phill Jones can also serve as a back-up to Paul Henare, who inherits the starting role from Bruton, but Lemanis was wary of losing Jones as his primary spot shooter off the bench.
"It's handy having somebody like [Fitchett] floating around," Lemanis said. "We'll definitely throw him in there and see how he goes. He's always wanted to show that he can play at this level so it is a good opportunity for him to do that."
With Bruton and Henare inked to long-term deals, Fitchett knows his chances of gaining a regular spot on the Breakers' roster are minimal. But he is viewing the games as a chance to put himself in the shop window of the Australian-based clubs.
"It is another chance to get my face out there and maybe other teams will see something they like. It can't hurt.
"But I'm not going to go out there try to show people what I can do. I'll definitely stay within the team structures. Andrej has just said play the way you play but do it within the team system. That's kind of the way I play anyway. I need a good system to excel and Andrej has got that going this year, so hopefully we'll go okay."
Just having the chance to train with the Breakers had helped him take his game to a new level, he said. Testing himself against Bruton, in particular had been extremely valuable.
"I've played against him when he was on the Boomers but to go up against him on a reasonably consistent basis - it can be quite demoralising but it is a very good experience."
The Breakers may have been inactive for the past 10 days but that has not stopped them taking over top spot on the NBL ladder.
Previous leaders Souths Dragons' (17-5) loss to Townsville on New Year's Eve dropped them below the 15-4 Breakers on percentage.
The Breakers have won seven straight on the road since an overtime loss to the Taipans in their opening game on Australian pine. But they will be wary of the Hawks and Spirit, with both clubs boasting strong home records despite being out of the playoff places.
The Hawks, who have won their last two after enduring an eight-game losing streak, are 6-3 at home, while Sydney are 7-3 at home but just 9-11 overall.
The Breakers have comfortably accounted for both clubs in Auckland this season, beating the Hawks 114-93 in round one and crushing the Spirit 114-70 on December 18.
