There’s no bigger challenge in the iiNet Championship right now than heading to Auckland to take on the New Zealand Breakers.
After all, the Breakers are the defending National Basketball League champions and have one of the most formidable line-ups in the competition. They are deep, extremely talented and are playing with the confidence that comes from winning the title.
What they also have is the league’s best record at home, an imposing 8-1 mark, with their only loss way back in November to the Wollongong Hawks, a result that now looks like the upset of the season based on the fact the Hawks currently sit at the bottom of the NBL ladder.
This is what lies ahead for the Sydney Kings this Friday as they go into downtown Auckland for the second time this season at the Vector Arena to face a Breaker team in red-hot form.
New Zealand have won three straight games, all by double figures, and have looked unstoppable as they continue their inexorable march to the playoffs. But Kings’ captain and franchise centre Julian Khazzouh is unperturbed at the prospect of facing a powerful ballclub like the Breakers.
“We’re looking forward to going to Auckland,” Julian said.
“We do play better on the road, because it’s just us as a group together on the road and we do enjoy that. I know last time we went there we probably weren’t playing our best, but now we are going in there balls to the wall and we’re going to give it everything we have.”
Indeed the last time Sydney played the Breakers they went down 75-59 in New Zealand, a game where the team’s oft-criticised defence did extremely well to hold down a potent offensive unit. It was the offence that struggled – in fact in the two games this year Sydney have managed 61 and 59 points against the Breakers, their two lowest scores of the season, and in order for the team to get a win they obviously need to put a lot more points on the board.
That’s even more the case when you consider the level of talent the purple and gold will go up against this Friday.
Start with maybe the most exciting player in the competition outside Jerai Grant, New Zealand’s spectacular forward Tom Abercrombie (14.5ppg, 5.5rpg, 1.0spg, 43.2% 3PT FG). Like Jerai, Abercrombie’s athleticism is off the charts, and he’s even more dangerous now that he’s added a consistent three point shot to his arsenal.
Sydney’s Anatoly Bose (14.3ppg, 6.5rpg), who will be a runaway winner of the Rookie of the Year award, has his toughest assignment to date against the Breakers’ most explosive player, and ‘Toly’ will need to be as aggressive and determined as he has shown much of the season at both ends of the floor.
Then there are the two New Zealand imports, who might be the best import duo in the league – point guard Cedric Jackson (11.9ppg, 6.4apg, 6.1rpg, 2.6spg) and big man Gary Wilkinson (16.0ppg, 5.8rpg, 50.2% FG, 40.6% 3PT FG, 85.0% FG).
Jackson, who leads the NBL in assists and steals, has been outstanding in his first season with the Breakers and is arguably the best floor leader in the competition based on what he does for his club at both ends of the floor. Sydney’s Luke Cooper and Luke Martin, both of whom have done an admirable job picking up the slack when Aaron Bruce was lost for the season, will need to be fearless, aggressive and play with great energy against New Zealand’s stellar talent if the Kings are to have a chance in this one.
Wilkinson is a difficult matchup thanks to his size, his mobility and the fact he is as much a threat from the perimeter as he is in the paint. Khazzouh (16.9ppg, 11.0rpg, 2.3bpg) and Grant (12.3ppg, 8.5ppg, 55.8% FG, 1.4bpg) will likely share defensive duties on the Breakers’ primary frontcourt target, and both must be solid and disciplined – they must also put as much pressure on him down the other end of the floor as they can and make him work defensively.
The thing about New Zealand that’s so hard to deal with is their depth. Abercrombie, Jackson and Wilkinson are the standouts, but they have a host of outstanding role players including perimeter gunner Daryl Corletto, rebounding machine Mika Vukona, defensive specialist Dillon Boucher, the best backup centre in the league Alex Pledger, and lest we forget CJ Bruton, who will never be forgotten by Kings’ fans for helping Sydney win two championships and is one of the all-time greats at the guard position in the National Basketball League.
It all adds up to the most significant challenge in the competition right now. How do you beat the defending champions in New Zealand?
It will take every man wearing purple and gold to step up and play as well as they have all season. Belief they can all get the job done. The same kind of never say die attitude every player has shown the past two games against quality opposition.
The team knows they are running out of time to make a run to the playoffs. And that means you can expect a desperate Kings outfit to take to the court on Friday. They will play with hunger, they will play with determination, and they will play with great pride in the jersey.
It’s time to show the Breakers that the Kings are ready to take their crown.
Sydney Kings. My City. My Team.
Sydney Kings (8-11) vs New Zealand Breakers (13-5)
Friday, 27 January 2012
Vector Arena, Auckland
Tipoff 5:30pm (Sydney time)
Live Stats available on www.nbl.com.au
