Basketball: Vukona steps up for shot at his fifth ring

The Breakers will rely on Mika Vukona's experience of big occasions tonight.Photo / Getty Images

Breakers can rely on popular veteran who thrives on finals fever.

The grand final series kicking off tonight in Cairns marks the second straight year the Breakers have concluded their campaign with a clash against the Taipans.

However, that's where the similarity ends. Last season, the tone was rather more muted, with Cairns handing the Breakers their 17th and final defeat of a dreadful year that resulted in a seventh-place finish.

Mika Vukona spent that evening doing what Mika Vukona does - compiling a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds - but that performance would have been a facsimile of the real Vukona.

The veteran power forward can do only so much for a side flailing away at the wrong end of the standings - he is never going to explode for 25 points, nor will he find the ball in his hands with the game on the line.

Give him a competent club and put them in the right situation - say, game one of a semifinal series - and the real Vukona can be guaranteed to appear.

Last week, with the Breakers aiming to seize the semifinal initiative against a red-hot Adelaide, the 32-year-old with four championship rings looked like a sprightly youngster hustling hard in the hopes of proving himself. Vukona, after a year away from the playoff, was diving for loose balls, crashing the boards and generally setting a tone of physicality and intensity Adelaide were unable to follow.

It was his 19th playoff appearance for the Breakers, equalling the club record, but Vukona played as if it was his first, and he knows he will feel the same way tonight in North Queensland.

"I had to step up - I had to show something," he said of his efforts against Adelaide. "I love this time of year, like everyone else in the team, and it's not hard to get up for an occasion like this."

Vukona's love for the post-season hardly needs acknowledgment. He is the Breakers' all-time leader in playoff rebounds and tonight will be his 21st post-season appearance with the club, extending the mark he shares with Tom Abercrombie.

Factoring in his championship campaign with the Gold Coast Blaze and no player on the court in Cairns will boast the crunch-time experience of the Breakers' captain. Although Vukona did get a kick out of the description applied when quizzed about his senior status

"Old head, I like that," he laughed. "It bodes well for you when you go in, knowing that you've been in this kind of situation. Sometimes in the finals, things are thrown at you that you've never experienced but, as a whole, if you can tick a lot of those boxes off, it helps you."

Ticking off those boxes was how Vukona knew when to flick the switch against Adelaide. Another lift will be required tonight but coach Dean Vickerman knew Vukona's style would allow for such an increase.

"That's just playing hard," Vickerman said. "Mika does it in a number of different ways. Offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds and then the hustle on the floor - we need it."

The Breakers are back where they belong and the same is true of Vukona.

Nervous? Never. Impatient? Maybe. But there was only one over-riding emotion.

"All the hard work that everyone's done this year finally paid off," he said. "It feels awesome."

Cairns Taipans v New Zealand Breakers

Game one: Tonight, 10.30 (NZT), Cairns Convention Centre.
Game two: Sunday, 3pm, North Shore Events Centre.
Game three (if needed): Next Friday, 10.30pm, Cairns Convention Centre.