Breakers bank on forward turning the corner

Whether it was the championship ring, a message to his old team or simply the comfort of his old home floor, something clicked for Kouat Noi on Sunday.

The New Zealand Breakers forward produced his best performance in the black and white against the Sydney Kings, scoring 27 of his equal career-high 32 points after three-quarter time. It was a timely reminder of just how hard he is to stop.

Noi joined the Kings from the Cairns Taipans for NBL23 and became a key member of two championship teams in Sydney, before making a fresh start across the Tasman with the Breakers for NBL27.

He hadn’t quite found his groove at his new club, though. Across his first 13 games, Noi had managed just 50 points from 48 shot attempts. For a player who has made a career out of shooting from the outside and getting to the foul line, he’d taken only 15 free throws.

For three quarters on Sunday, not much changed. Back at Afterpay Arena, and having received his ring from last season’s title pre-game, Noi had 5 points on 2/5 shooting at the final break.

Then he exploded. Noi put the Breakers on his back with 19 fourth-quarter points, including two massive late threes to force overtime. By the end of two extra periods, he had 32 points on 9/17 shooting, 4/9 from long range and 10/13 at the foul line.

The Kings eventually escaped 111-102 in double overtime, but Noi’s performance showed everything he brings when he’s on top of his game.

Breakers coach Gordie Herbert hopes it kickstarts his season.

“First of all, with Kouat, he only played four minutes on Friday night and he’s gone through some adversities, embraced it and gone forwards,” Herbert said.

“So hopefully, this is where he can turn the corner, so to speak, because obviously today was his best game of the year.

“I thought he played really well on the offensive end, and he kept us in the game there, I thought, and gave us a chance to win.”

Breakers captain Reuben Te Rangi has spent plenty of his career going up against Noi and was excited to finally call him a teammate this season.

It may have taken Noi a while to get going in New Zealand, but Te Rangi always knew what he was capable of. He hopes Sunday is just the start, with the Breakers back at Spark Arena on Wednesday night to face the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

“Yeah, he’s got it in him to play like that and he always has the ability to score the ball, but yeah, how to get it out of him more? I’m not sure,” Te Rangi said.

“When he’s playing like that, I think we’re a tough team because we already have a lot of options, and then with him adding 32 points in a game is unbelievable.”

The loss leaves the Breakers at 5-9 heading into Round 10.