R19 Preview: New Zealand Breakers vs Sydney Kings

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Finn Delany and the Breakers are finally home, but Xavier Cooks is back for the Kings and they have their eyes on the playoff prize.

When: 5.30pm (AEDT), Thursday 20 May

Where: Trusts Arena, Auckland

Broadcast: SBS Viceland; Sky Sports NZ; SBS On Demand; Twitch

The last time
Sydney 96 (Hunter 24, Vasiljevic 20, Ware 19) d New Zealand 78 (C Webster 24, T Webster 18), Round 7, John Cain Arena, Melbourne

This last meeting was way back in week two of the NBL Cup, and early on it looked like the Webster show, the brothers combining for 17 first-quarter points as the Breakers raced to a 13-point advantage. The next 16 minutes belonged to Sydney, however, peeling off a devastating 45-14 run where Jordan Hunter and Casper Ware combined for 27 points, the Kiwis with no answers for Hunter as he scored all 24 points from the paint or the foul line.

The now
“And now, the end is near” sang Frank Sinatra in his classic croon, My Way, and certainly the Breakers seem to have travelled each and every highway in Australia. They’ll have a few regrets from season 2021, but by and large they’ve earned nothing but respect for their dogged fight against the odds. With the playoffs now out of reach, and family back within reach, the question is can they maintain the rage, or will there be a late-season letdown?

Sydney have faced it all, and stood tall, when it comes to injuries this season, but recently seemed to be slipping out of the playoff picture. Their come-from-behind win over Adelaide last round was a massive moment, and back-to-back wins over NZ this round would make fourth place theirs to lose. Xavier Cooks got through 17 minutes against the Sixers, and if X can find form alongside Craig Moller the Kings will be a long and versatile defensive unit.

The stats

- The Kings held Adelaide to 75 points at 37 per cent from the field, 24 per cent from the arc, 9 second chance points and 13 assists to 12 turnovers

- When the Kings hold teams to 84 or fewer they are 11-2, compared to 4-13 when they allow more

- Sydney have scored 84 and 96 against New Zealand this season. The Breakers are 2-16 when opponents score 84 points or more

- In games decided by six points or less, the Breakers have a 6-7 record, but in contests decided by seven or more they are 3-13

The key men

Craig Moller – Mr Everywhere has averaged 8.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.6 o-boards and 2.4 assists and defended strongly over the past five games. Moving to the bench for Xavier Cooks made no difference, Moller adding 12 points, 11 boards, 2 blocks and 2 triples in the win over Adelaide, going +19 in his 23 minutes on the floor. But can he guard the Flying Finn? Delany has averaged 24.3ppg in his past three outings and shapes as a match-winner.

William McDowell-White – The son of a footy gun has delivered 11.3 points, 7.7 assists and 5.3 boards in his past three games, shooting 54 per cent from the floor and 5-of-12 from range to make a statement that he belongs at NBL level. He’s had 14 and 13 assist games in Breaker wins, and his ability to play with composure against Sydney’s hard shows, and set up teammates or exploit slower big men will be a key to New Zealand’s chances.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">? Colton, ?<br><br>The big man drives down the lane with intent.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/hW4Ui9tDD2">pic.twitter.com/hW4Ui9tDD2</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1393518488954675201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The quotes

How will the Breakers respond to finally being home? Will it spur them to another level? Will the relief strip away their hardened edge? Or will it be a dose of A, followed by a dose of B?

Only time will tell, of course, but coach Dan Shamir is sure of one thing.

“We are excited to go home,” he said after their final Australian game in Wollongong.

“We need it like oxygen.”

It creates a new challenge for departing coach Adam Forde and the Sydney Kings, who have two cracks at the Breakers this weekend as they chase a playoff berth.

“Interesting,” Forde said.

“There’s the on-court scout which we’ll do a good job of, but they're heading back home, that’s obviously going to be a massive relief for them, and the crowd is going to be excited to see them.

“So there’s going to be that element that New Zealand’s going to want to go out and not disappoint the fans knowing this is their first home game in a very long season.

“We’ll try and focus on what we can do on the court and try to block out all the outside noise that comes with it.”

With games to follow against Perth and Melbourne in Round 20, there isn’t much room for error for the Kings, but the way they defended against the 36ers looked like a playoff outfit, providing some much-needed scores for an offence that is yet to regain its mid-season flow.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cooks ?? Hunter ?? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> <a href="https://t.co/LxHIXvDCod">pic.twitter.com/LxHIXvDCod</a></p>— Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1393833085444055042?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“It's been a couple of games in a row now where they offence has been a bit stagnant and slow to get going, so to lock it down on the defensive side of things and cause that infliction onto Adelaide was the difference for us,” Forde said.

“The good thing was we were able to take the wind out of their sails, similar to how the wind was taken out of ours.”

They did that with pressure, and the return of Xavier Cooks gave them a new ability to defend up the floor and have confidence they could cover the back door, and then capitalise going the other way.

“Because we have X back we have the opportunity to get up and extend it a little bit,” Forde said.

“We did more of a 1-2-2 back into a 2-3 zone against Brisbane, but with more minutes for X and Craig (Moller) we went more of a 1-2-2 back into match-up with the reality being that we’ve for guys who can switch one-through-five.

“Credit to X and Craig who were up the front leading it and the guards in the second line, and then the communication is what makes it work.”

New Zealand have struggled against pressure this season, with a league-leading turnover percentage of 14.7 – the rest of the league averages 12.7 – and trailing Sydney 33-23 in points from turnovers in the season series.

It’s one of many areas of improvement for the 9-20 Breakers – another being how to stop Jordan Hunter who has yet to miss a field goal against them – and coach Shamir thinks his resilient and unselfish team is ready for more challenges yet, especially with Levi Randolph back from injury.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">CONFIRMED. LEVI HAS THE CLUTCH GENE.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZAJRY9K2HQ">pic.twitter.com/ZAJRY9K2HQ</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1388424887631417344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“My honest belief in life is all these challenges in life are just a test and it’s fun, if you live in the competition you love the challenges, you love to solve them,” he said.

“I have to thank everybody because we got through it, logistically, in very good conditions, we got taken care of in a great way, but we didn’t win games, and everybody probably needs to reflect and think what can I do more, we still have seven games to play, what can I do more.

“At the end of the day, basketball is the same wherever you play, you have to be tough and bring it, and we have been, we haven't been soft, we haven't quit.

“I hear it every time from the coaches when we shake hands at the end of the games, they're all very nice and they all mention that, and hopefully at home we’ll be able to shift up just one more gear.”

Of course, Sydney is looking to do the same, and Cooks is confident his team can make the plays needed with 10 healthy rotation players now on board.

“Super confident,” he said.

“This team’s been dealing with so much adversity all year and we’re still in playoff contention, I think that shows a lot about us, how much we believe.

“We have a lot of talent on this team, when we play together we’re an extremely good team.”