KEY POINTS:
If you're going to get into a fight, you might as well start at the top. That's what Breakers import Rick Rickert did when he was picked up by his home state Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2003 draft.
In a pick-up game, he and Kevin Garnett, the Kevin Garnett, had a tete-a-tete that effectively ended Rickert's meaningful involvement with the team.
Garnett, perhaps the most respected player in the NBA, went on to win the championship with the Boston Celtics this year, in the process reviving the sport's most successful, yet flat-lining franchise.
Rickert? Well, Minnesota's loss has unquestionably been the Breakers' gain. The 2.11m, 25-year-old centre might not be the flashiest import to set foot on these shores, or the dominant scorer fans expect their imports to be, or the most graceful athlete to play the game. But he is arguably the glue that holds the 4-1 Breakers together.
"Kevin Garnett is the guy I model my game on," says Rickert, "even though he and I don't really get along.
"That's who I grew up watching in Minnesota. We got into a few little tiffs here and there so we're not really close," he laughs. "We had an incident, which I'm not going to discuss right now, but it affected me making the team or not."
Or not as it turns out. After being named Big 10 freshman of the year while at the University of Minnesota and following it up with a strong sophomore season, Rickert was selected 55th overall in the draft but was pointed towards Europe before embarking on a circuitous route that led him to Auckland's North Shore.
While the celebrity status and salary is loaded in Garnett's favour, Rickert can at least match his intensity. He operates in the paint at both ends of the court, where elbows fly and the theory of non-contact sport is at its most implausible. He rebounds and hits a variety of hooks and lay-ups.
But most importantly, he is the guy they need on court to make sure Kirk Penney, Phill Jones and CJ Bruton get their looks from distance. He sets screens and makes his way back to the hoop to clean up the garbage. It is a dirty job but every coach will tell you, someone's got to do it.
UNLIKE SOME of the weird and occasionally wonderful US imports who have graced the Breakers and our own NBL, Rickert's acclimatisation to New Zealand was not difficult.
He grew up in Duluth, a Minnesota town on the shores of Lake Superior. Its claim to fame is the birthplace of Robert Zimmerman who would later change his name to Dylan and pen a few catchy folk songs.
"It's not too much different," he said of the switch from the midwest of the States to the isthmus of Auckland.
"That lake we're on [Superior] is the biggest in the world. Looking out at that, it is basically an ocean. You can't see the other side."
After an impressive start to his ANBL career last season, Rickert had a back injury flare up and force him out of the game for six long months.
"It was a mild disc protrusion. I saw three or four different people in the States and over here and every one had a different opinion about it. They thought it was just a back injury, a disc injury, others said my body was out of whack, my pelvis was twisted and pinching on a nerve. In the end, it was a combination of everything. I had to see a chiropractor to get me in line before I could start my rehab and get my range of motion back."
Rickert says his back feels fine but because of the long lay-off, he's still searching for optimal match fitness.
"I'm getting there. I always feel like I can play better. I'm improving as an individual but it's getting to the point now where we're playing individually some of our best basketball but we're still meshing as a group."
The Breakers added a couple of key pieces in the off-season, securing all-star guard CJ Bruton and Tall Blacks stalwart Dillon Boucher from the now defunct Brisbane Bullets.
"They fit really well as people into the group we've got here at the Breakers. They're good people, family oriented. They have fit in nicely."
All families have disagreements though and coach Andrej Lemanis admitted the week between their loss to Cairns Taipans and victory over the Gold Coast Blaze was a little fraught. In what must almost be an unprecedented happening in New Zealand, a coach admitted he got it wrong.
"We had an interesting week at practice. A lot was made of us losing last week and I think I got a little too stressed with the guys. That transferred a bit of tension into the group."
Rickert admitted things were on edge but Lemanis' obvious and admirable contrition, plus the fact it happened while the team had a 3-1 record should galvanise the squad further.
"The main thing for us is we need a positive atmosphere. We thrive on positivity. At practice, we were letting some negativity seep in and we can't do that. We need to stay positive and not beat each other down."
If they defy their road blues and continue at somewhere near an 80 per cent win record, there won't be much cause for negativity.
"As we go on the road, it's important to pick up these games. We need to stay focused."
With a Garnett-like Rickert driving them forward, focus will not be an issue.
ROAD TO REDEMPTION
The next month will prove pivotal to the Breakers' fortunes.
Pretenders or contenders? With six of the next eight games on the road, including two trips to Cairns to play the only team that has beaten them this season, we will know by November 15 whether this was a season of false hope or a new dawn.
* Taipans vs Breakers,
Cairns, Weds Oct 22
* Blaze vs Breakers,
Gold Coast, Sat Oct 25
* Breakers vs Wildcats,
North Shore, Thurs Oct 30
* Crocodiles vs Breakers,
Townsville, Sat Nov 1
* Breakers vs 36ers,
North Shore, Thurs Nov 6
* Tigers vs Breakers,
Melbourne, Sat Nov 8
* Taipans vs Breakers,
Cairns, Weds Nov 12
* Crocodiles vs Breakers,
Townsville, Sat Nov 15
