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NBL dominance of the Breakers and Wildcats is over - almost

Alex Pledger of the New Zealand Breakers, marked by Shawn Redhage of the Perth Wildcats. (Source: Chris Pike)
Expert
7th December, 2016
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The New Zealand Breakers and Perth Wildcats occupy the bottom two spots in the NBL after sharing the last seven championships. Is it too early to write off the powerhouses?

The Breakers and Wildcats are both in significant slumps right now and are deserving of their positions at the foot of the NBL ladder. But seven years of sustained success and dominance counts for a lot, and can’t be ignored.

The Breakers have won championships in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 while also making the grand final last year when the Wildcats trumped them in three games. Perth has also won recent championships in 2010 and 2014 while making the grand final in 2012 and 2013.

There is no mistaking the dominance of both clubs over the past seven years. Much of that is because they have kept their core group of players together while the rest of the league has changed more than half their squad from season to season.

The other is they have been the two most successful clubs off the court. It’s no surprise that off-court stability and success leads to a well-performing team on the floor.

The Wildcats and Breakers might not have dropped off significantly either on or off the court, but the rest of the league is becoming vastly more competitive.

The Sydney Kings currently occupy top spot after beating the Illawarra Hawks on Monday night. They have been a basket case since returning to the league for the 2010-11 season.

Now management has things in order, they have a strong roster headlined by Olympians Kevin Lisch and Brad Newley, who are both MVP candidates, and are deserving championship favourites.

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The returning Brisbane Bullets are in second spot. Coached by Andrej Lemanis and with a team full of proven NBL players including Jermaine Beal, Daniel Kickert, Adam Gibson, Torrey Craig and Anthony Petrie on top of Cam Bairstow, they were always going to be around the mark and are proving a threat.

The Illawarra Hawks might have lost Lisch and Kirk Penney, but they are finding their feet with former MVP Rotnei Clarke settling into an energising role off the bench. They are well coached by Rob Beveridge and have found a way to still be good without Lisch and Penney.

The Cairns Taipans are the real surprise packets. Very quietly they are putting together a run of form that means they can’t be slept on to be championship contenders.

Tremendously coached by Aaron Fearne and with an experienced core of Mark Worthington, Cameron Gliddon, Stephen Weigh, Alex Loughton and Nate Jawai, they know what it takes. Travis Trice is now in a rich vein of form after an injury-interrupted start and they appear the real deal.

The fortunes of the Adelaide 36ers were always going to rest on Jerome Randle and not too much has changed, but there are good signs with breakout star Nathan Sobey and captain Mitch Creek is still to return.

Then there is Melbourne United, who look a vastly different team now with Chris Goulding back from an ankle injury and Casper Ware in the line-up. All of a sudden, they look title-worthy again as they head to Perth on a three-game winning run.

chris-goulding-nbl-basketball-2016-melbourne-united

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That leaves the Breakers and Wildcats holding up the table. There will be no sympathy from the rest of the league following seven years of dominance with the two clubs meeting in three grand finals and four playoff series in that time. They can’t be written off just yet, though.

The Wildcats are a vastly different team without inspirational captain Damian Martin. The Olympian and five-time Defensive Player of the Year changes the game at the defensive end, but underrated is his ability as a point guard to run a smooth offence, to get shots in the right spots for the right teammates and to penetrate and open up opportunities for others.

The Wildcats haven’t come close to covering his loss through a knee injury that will sideline him at least another month. They have lost four straight including three of their last four at Perth Arena.

They have just one more home game until after the Hopman Cup in mid-January and that’s against a rolling Melbourne United. It could still get worse before it improves for the Wildcats and much of it is because they aren’t as talented as last season.

The loss of Jermaine Beal, Tom Jervis and Nate Jawai, and arrival of Jaron Johnson, Jameel McKay and Angus Brandt has been a significant downgrade, only highlighted further with the absence of Martin.

Casey Prather is proving he can carry a significant load and Matt Knight has had big games, but they need more help and coach Trevor Gleeson knows that.

“A couple of things you know are going to happen in the season is that you are going to be the best team at some stage and you are going to be the worst team. We are not real good at the moment and we have to turn that around real quick,” Gleeson said.

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“The morale is pretty good but there are a lot of guys still waiting for things to happen. We’ve got too many passengers and we’ve got to weed those guys out and play the guys who are playing at the level required.

“We have too many guys not playing at the level required and that’s putting the pressure on the rest of the team. We need our senior players to lead by example.”

The Breakers are now at the bottom of the table having also lost four straight.

It isn’t as simple as a personnel issue for New Zealand. From last season’s grand final team, Cedric and Charles Jackson are gone along with Tai Wesley. Ben Woodside was doing well as a point guard before his foot injury and David Stockton has hardly been a bust replacing him.

Akil Mitchell is a little turnover and foul prone, but is providing similar numbers to Charles Jackson as a big.

Kirk Penney has come in to add more shooting firepower and Rob Loe has had his good moments as a big man. The core is still there with Mika Vukona, Alex Pledger, Tom Abercrombie and Corey Webster.

Paul Henare is in his first season as coach and has his work cut out to turn things around. But the talent is there for the Breakers and they did come back from a six-game losing run last season to demolish Melbourne United on the way to the grand final.

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Pledger is now fully over a foot injury with the 7’1″ centre having a good season. But winning is what he’s about and he is confident of the Breakers bouncing back.

Alex Pledger and Shawn Redhage compete for the basketball

“It has been pretty rough considering we had won five out of six before this losing run and we were starting to gel quite well after a disrupted pre-season with injuries and then we started 1-3,” Pledger said.

“Then with Ben Woodside’s foot injury and bringing in Dave Stockton, that’s replacing a key player at a key position and when you are six games into a season, that disrupted things a little bit. But we are always going to be confident that with more games and practices, we’ll get better.

“It’s hard to practice a lot at the moment with the game schedule so tight but we do have a little bit of practice without a whole lot of games over the Christmas and New Year period. That extra practice time should help us make the adjustment we made when Woody first got here to get back on the right track.”

ROUND 9 NBL RESULTS
Thursday
Perth Wildcats 75 lost to Brisbane Bullets 90

Friday
New Zealand Breakers 91 lost to Illawarra Hawks 95

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Saturday
Brisbane Bullets 84 lost to Cairns Taipans 89
Adelaide 36ers 92 beat Perth Wildcats 86

Sunday
Melbourne United 98 beat New Zealand Breakers 74

Monday
Illawarra Hawks 93 lost to Sydney Kings 99

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