Basketball: Penney set to lead Breakers' final charge

Tom Abercrombie believes the Breakers' destiny is in their own hands. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Kirk Penney is fit and raring to go for tonight's ANBL grand final decider against the Cairns Taipans at the North Shore Events Centre.

Penney provided a huge scare when he limped out of training on Wednesday after a back spasm, but he recovered well enough to take a full part in a behind-closed-doors training session yesterday.

The star shooting guard was originally placed off limits by the club, but eventually emerged to declare his fitness.

"I feel good, I'm ready to go," he said."I am really happy with how the back recovered. I had that spasm and it caught me by surprise, but now it's all about [tonight], being ready and focused and I think I'll be good to go."

While Penney was optimistic about his fitness - saying he would rely on a handful of anti-inflammatories rather than pain-killing injections to get through - he admitted the flare up of what is an ongoing problem had given him a scare. When the injury, a prolapsed disc, struck in 2009 he was sidelined for close to two months, missing nine games.

"I was nervous, I was nervous for a little bit, but I am really happy with how it has responded," he said.

"You know with your back pretty quickly if it settles down or if it doesn't. It has settled down well, so I am happy with where it is at."

Club physio Anousith Bouaaphone described Penney's injury as a "minor back strain", although he admitted it was related to his previous injury.

"The muscle spasmed up a little bit, that's why we were quite cautious with it and got treatment straight away," Bouaaphone said. "He recovered well overnight and was able to train fully [yesterday], so we expect him to be 100 per cent for [tonight]."

Penney said it was now just a matter of getting through to tip off time in good shape.

"I just have to make sure it is loose, it is good to go and once [the game] tips off who cares? Your adrenalin is rushing and you are trying to win this thing."

A big night from Penney would go a long way to the Breakers' securing their first title. In game two Penney was limited to just 12 points and missed with all five of his three-point attempts as the Taipans clawed their way to a double-overtime victory.

"We have to go out there with unbelievable urgency, mental awareness and just play so hard," Penney said. "In Cairns we let ourselves down and we are very disappointed with how we played there. Now is our chance to respond, to win this thing the way we know we are capable of."

If Penney is locked down by Taipans double and triple teams, chances will open up for his teammates. That would be just fine by him. "However we get it done, whoever steps up, whatever the case may be we just want to win this game.

"If we play how we are capable of we should win the championship. That has got to be our mindset. We believe in ourselves, it's time to do it."

Swingman Tom Abercrombie, who is the most likely candidate to pick up the slack should Penney falter, believes the team's destiny is firmly in their own hands.

"We feel like if we play like we are capable of playing then we will win," Abercrombie said. "It is a matter of us doing what we do."

Coach Andrej Lemanis was also confident there would a strong bounce back after a sub-par game two display.

"All season we have been a pretty proud group," Lemanis said. "We haven't enjoyed losing and we have always rebounded well from losses and made the appropriate changes. I think we'll come out and play well."

BREAKERS V TAIPANS

North Shore Events Centre
7.30 tonight, live SS2

BREAKERS
Paul Henare (PG)
CJ Bruton (G)
Kirk Penney (G)
Thomas Abercrombie (G/F)
Gary Wilkinson (F)

Bench: Kevin Braswell, Mika Vukona, Dillon Boucher, Alex Pledger, Corey Webster

TAIPANS
Ayinde Ubaka (PG)
Daniel Dillon (G/F)
Ron Dorsey (F)
Alex Loughton (F)
Ian Crosswhite (C)

Bench: Aaron Grabau, Lindsay Tait, Phill Jones, Dean Brebner, Dusty Rychart