Maor blows whistle on ejection

It took just one half of basketball to see NBL CEO Dave Stevenson’s desire to have a zero stance on negative behaviour towards referees come into full effect.

New Zealand head coach Mody Maor was the first person to cop the brunt of the new edict when he was ejected from Thursday night’s game against Adelaide.

Maor was on the receiving end of a pair of technical fouls at halftime when he was challenging the difference in fouls called against the two teams. At the time New Zealand had been whistled for 16 team fouls, while Adelaide had committed just six.

While Maor acknowledged he deserved a technical foul for his conduct, he believes the call to eject him was over the top.

“Two technical fouls at halftime in a forty-second span is not how basketball games are reffed,” he said in his post-match media conference.

“I probably deserved one technical foul - the foul count was 16 to 6 - I haven’t said a word about the refereeing all season long and the stats and the numbers kind of show themselves there. But, there’s a way things are done in professional basketball, and ejecting me over the conversation we had at halftime, where I didn’t curse or anything, in my opinion is completely against everything, and it wasn’t warranted.

"One technical foul? Yes. The ejection? 100 per cent, no.”

Breakers assistant Daniel Sokolovsky stepped into the breach to lead the team in Maor's absence, in a victory that was highlighted by 20-point performances from each of Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Anthony Lamb and Izayah Le'Afa.

Le'Afa proved to be the difference off the bench in the tie, and connected with seven threes en route to taking home Foot Locker Player of the Game honours.

Despite being unable to coach  the second half of the game, Maor was full of praise for his players and staff.

“I’m really proud of my players, I’m really proud of my coaching staff, responding the right way, doing things the right way, playing the right way.”

“We’re together in the trenches, everything that’s happened to this team from day one is happening to all of us … we’re fighting through it shoulder to shoulder.”

“Every game we’re playing now, we are playing for our lives.”