Breakers set for off-season overhaul

The dust has barely settled on their historic Ignite Cup Final win on Sunday, yet the New Zealand Breakers already have an eye on the future.

As exciting as the Gold Coast victory over Adelaide was for the Breakers, the club’s president of basketball operations, Dillon Boucher, said the season was ultimately “disappointing” after missing the Finals.

In a recent interview with the New Zealand Herald, Boucher explained how pivotal the coming off-season was for the Breakers, who only have Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Izayah Le’afa, Reuben Te Rangi, Max Darling (club option) and Taylor Britt (club option) under contract.

“We’re already starting to have one eye on next year and how we’re going to build for next year and where we fell short,” Boucher said to the New Zealand Herald.

“We’ll do a lot of off-season strategy on working out where we failed this season and where we need to get stronger.

“At the moment, we don’t have a huge number back next season, but it’s almost purposely done to be able to start again from scratch. So for us, it’ll be what are the key pieces we need to be stronger next season?

“Some guys really put their hand up towards the end of the season, knowing that their contracts are going to be up for renewal. And some guys seal the fate for themselves with either performances or how they behave and things like that.”

Adding to the ‘starting from scratch’ narrative is the fact that second-year head coach Petteri Koponen is off contract.

The NBL26 Finals tip off on Wednesday, March 4, with the Seeding Qualifier between South East Melbourne and Perth at John Cain Arena from 7.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.

Read the full story here >> Breakers roster reset: Dillon Boucher plans major NBL rebuild