KEY POINTS:
RECORD: A
Prior to last night's game the Breakers led the league with an impressive 13-3 record. They were 7-2 at home and had posted a remarkable 6-1 mark on the road. One of their defeats, by the Adelaide 36ers, was attributable to an injury suffered by
C.J. Bruton in the warm-up for a match when the team was already missing the suspended Phill Jones. Their only road loss came in overtime against
the Taipans on their first trip across the Tasman.
Since then, they have won six straight. The club has won more games this season than it did in any of its first four seasons. Last season's franchise-best mark of 16 regular season wins is certain to be obliterated.
NEW RECRUITS: A+
Star capture C.J. Bruton has done everything expected of him. A commanding presence at point guard, he has added another lethal option from beyond the arc and is also a tenacious defender. A player who thrives on emotion, he has added an extra spark to a side that can be unstoppable when its gets on a roll. Bruton's stats are incredible: He leads the league in assists (5.9), and steals (2.06), is second in free
throw percentage (.907), fifth is three point percentage (.479) and 8th in total scoring.
If Bruton is the player that has taken the team to a new level, Dillon Boucher may just be the vital final piece in a building project
that began with the recruitment of Kirk Penney and Jones last season.
Whether an ageing Boucher could adequately replace the rising Mika Vukona was the squad's main worry. The answer has been a resounding yes - and then some. Despite limited court time Boucher is third in the
league in steals and 13th in assists. He will never be a scoring threat but would lead the league in several categories for which there are no stats, such as hustle, basketball smarts and determination.
OFFENCE: A
"Even when we play badly we'll still score over 100 points." That was Tony Ronaldson's assessment of the Breakers' offence and it has been spot on. Just four times this season has the club been held below three
figures. Their average of 107 points per game is four points above the next best Tigers, while they also lead the league in field goal
percentage (.484), three-point percentage (.446), free throw percentage (.777) and assists (23.9). Individually, Oscar Forman is on pace to
eclipse the league record for three pointers in a season - he already has 58/110 at a league-best .527 clip, while Bruton (5th), Jones (7th)
and Tony Ronaldson (10th) are all also in the top 10. With 386 points at over 24 a game, Penney is the league's leading scorer by a distance despite having production limited by foot and thumb injuries in recent weeks.
DEFENCE: B-
A tendency to give up 30+ points in the first quarter is the Breakers' biggest weakness. In most games they have been able to make the necessary adjustments to stop the rot but their slow starts have meant they often need to come from behind. A combination of potent offence and an ability to lock in defensively in the final quarter has seen them
come out on top more often than not but the D is definitely still a work in progress. They have made strides from their early matches when they were penetrated with ease and too easily caught out on transition, but they can still struggle to defend against the league's premier big
men. They have also been prone to giving up too many fouls.
COACHING: A-
Runner-up in the coach of the month voting for the first month of the season, Andrej Lemanis has good cause to be pleased with his efforts. His lone blip came when he, by his own admission, over-reacted to the team's first loss of the year in round four. But he certainly deserves plenty of credit for the way the team has gelled so far. Bruton slotted in seemlessly in the crucial point guard position despite limited preparation time due to Olympic commitments.
The team has also shown a strong ability to make crucial adjustments during games. Part of that is down to senior players reacting instinctively, but Lemanis must also get credit for his ability to read games, change tactics and successfully get his messages through to his
players. With such a talent-packed roster he also has to manage players' demands for court time without upsetting sensibilities, something he seems to be achieving.
ADMINISTRATION: B+
The Breakers are often touted as an example of how a club should be run. They have excellent training and clubhouse facilities, have continued to build their attendances and have a strong presence in the North Shore community. They could probably do with a better stadium, but what team couldn't? The major black mark against the administration is the failure to secure a naming rights sponsor. However, the loss of Harvey Norman
was out of the club's hands, with the retailing giant canning sponsorship and charitable commitments due to economic conditions.
Opting not to panic and sign a replacement on reduced terms in a tough market - thus setting a reduced benchmark - may also end up being a shrewd move.
The upturn in the club's on-court fortunes should make them a more marketable commodity and they may end up benefiting long term by standing pat now. Another bugbear with fans is Maori TV's delayed live
coverage, which starts an hour after tip-off. Although not ideal, this arrangement was again out of the club's hands, with Sky opting to
puts its eggs in the transtasman netball basket instead. Once again, in light of the Breakers' transformation, it may be Sky that is left ruing its decision. And free-to-air national coverage of every home game - albeit delayed - is still better than any of the Australian teams can boast.
With basketball teams falling over left, right and centre, there must be
questions over how secure the Breakers are as a financial entity. The club keeps its financial cards pretty close to its chest. Details, such as the level of third party payments in Kirk Penney's contract, are
not made public. The question is how the club would be placed if economic conditions led to those payments drying up? One needs look no farther than the defunct Brisbane Bullets to see what happens when the largesse of wealthy individuals is withdrawn. For now, though, the Breakers claim to be in rude health and there is little reason to
doubt them.
OVERALL: A-
With the rest of the league looking up at them at the mid-point of the season, the Breakers have plenty of reasons to be happy. But the
trophy isn't handed out in December and the team knows it will have to
continue improving to turn a promising start into a title.
The only Kiwi to win an NBL title - with the Bullets in 06/07 - Dillon Boucher believes an A- is too generous, going instead for a B-.
"It's only halfway through the season and there is always room for
improvement," Boucher says. "We are getting better each game so I can't
complain with where we are at right now. But the games we have lost this
season, we look back and think we should never have lost. If we had won those games then maybe it would be a B+."
