Breakers' Frustration at Foul Count

Sunday, March 12, 2023

The New Zealand Breakers have publicly complained about the foul count across the NBL Championship Series.

Following a 23-point loss against the Kings on Friday night, Breakers owner Matt Walsh and club officials took to Twitter to have their say.

New Zealand committed 26 fouls to the Kings’ 19 at Qudos Bank Arena, with star Jarrell Brantley fouling out.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Maybe they’ll just foul our entire team out.</p>— Matt Walsh (@mattyvincent44) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattyvincent44/status/1634135354683916290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Make it 6 playoff games in a row with more fouls and less free throws <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBL</a> <a href="https://t.co/exo4lwiZyq">https://t.co/exo4lwiZyq</a></p>— Sky Sport New Zealand Breakers (@NZBreakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers/status/1634141238973673474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Speaking to News Corp, Walsh was straight to the point.

“Numbers are what they are. No further comment. Six games, six times more fouls called and six times we shot less free throws,” he said, referring to the matchups between the two teams this year.

The Breakers have averaged the equal-most fouls of any team across this season, but captain Tom Abercrombie says the blame doesn’t sit with the officials, with the Kings' Jordan Hunter also fouled out on the night.

Hunter racked up five fouls in just four minutes and 55 seconds of game-time.

“Refereeing is what it is, you can’t change it, you just have to try to adjust to how the game’s being called,” Abercrombie said after the game.

“I don’t think we adjusted and I don’t think we defended like we used to, like we do and that probably affected the way they (the referees) called the game.”

New Zealand will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing performance in Game 3, with the visiting team shooting at just 35 per cent from the field, and losing the rebound and assist counts by 14 and 11 respectively.

A huge crowd is expected at Spark Arena for Game 4 of the Championship Series, with the Breakers making more seats available in a bid to cater for demand.

Limited tickets are still available, with the game live and free on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, and Sky Sport and Prime in New Zealand

Read the full story via News Corp >>