Abercrombie: Coaches' Words a "Chess Match"

New Zealand captain Tom Abercrombie has refused to get involved in apparent war of words between coaches Mody Maor and Chase Buford on some of the refereeing calls in the Championship Series, and has stated all the talk is “just a bit of a chess match between coaches”.

Buford stormed out of his post-match press conference following Sunday night’s loss, after a question regarding the physicality of the game. 

Sydney finished the game with 20 personal fouls and 14 free throw attempts, while New Zealand finished with 17 fouls and 26 free throw attempts.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a>&#39; coach Chase Buford has frustratedly walked out of the post match media conference after being questioned about the physicality of the game. <a href="https://t.co/eH0cPFkK4a">pic.twitter.com/eH0cPFkK4a</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1634820938054373376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“As players we’re just focused on going out there and playing the way we want to play,” Abercrombie said. “I think we did that last night and we’re going to go out and try to do the same thing [in Game 5].

“It’s part of a series and whenever you’re in a series – especially a five-game series – there’s more and more opportunities for tensions to build and discussions to be had and storylines to be told so it is what it is.

“There’s a lot on the line, both teams want it very badly and it brings out all sorts of emotions.”

Abercrombie also added he believes some of the tension stems from both sides being strong defensive units.

“I think we’re a very, very good defensive team, and when you play against a good defensive team sometimes it can be frustrating,” he said.

“I think they’re a good defensive team as well in a different way to us, but it’s not easy defending the way we do, it’s not easy playing against it but it’s nothing different to what we’ve been doing all season long.

“It’s who we are, we play clean, we embrace that side of the floor, we enjoy it and it’s part of our identity.”

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The Breakers stormed out to 12-point half-time lead in Game 4, but a third quarter blitz from the Kings reined the margin back in to just two points at three quarter time.

New Zealand managed to once again establish some distance between themselves and the Kings in the final term, though before running out as 10-point winners.

“I think this was the first time in the series where we consistently played with maximum effort and didn’t have lapses in our effort and intensity,” Breakers head coach Mody Maor said.

“We didn’t let anything take us out of it whether it was the refs, missing shots, them making shots, we kept competing at a very high level all the time.

“The challenge of playing over there against the Sydney Kings is a big one. We need to embrace all the challenges that come with this. “

Game 5 of the NBL23 Championship Series tips off on Wednesday, March 15 at 7:30pm AEDT.

Catch the game live on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, and Sky Sports and Prime in New Zealand.