Breakers star does what no one has since 1996

“I think the best version of me is the MVP.”

Sam Mennenga said it in August without hesitation. He hadn’t quite reached those heights in the opening three rounds of the season, but in Round 4 he did.

With Parker Jackson-Cartwright sidelined, New Zealand needed someone to take charge, and Mennenga answered the call.

He finished with 40 points, 18 rebounds and 5 assists at RAC Arena, shooting 15/26 from the field and 5/8 from three-point range. It came in a 100-84 loss, but the game wasn’t decided until Perth pulled away in the final quarter.

Mennenga almost single-handedly kept the Breakers in it for much of the night.

In doing so, he became the first player in Breakers history, and the first in the NBL’s 40-minute era, to post 40 points and 18 rebounds in a game. No one in the League had done it since 1996.

“You can’t let it [injuries] define you, right? If you play the victim going into a game, you’ve already lost the game,” Mennenga said after the game.

“You’ve got to play the game regardless. Guys need to step up. I needed to step up.”

He set the tone from the opening tip, with 17 points and 7 rebounds in the first quarter alone and 25 and 11 by half-time. By three-quarter time he was on 33 and 16, with New Zealand trailing by just four.

Mennenga holds himself to incredibly high standards, but he’s just as humble when it comes to celebrating the wins.

“I made some good plays, I made some bad plays. I had seven turnovers,” he said.

“Obviously the stats were good, but there’s things that I feel like if I cleaned up, we could have been in a better position to win the basketball game. There’s always room for improvement.”

That refusal to settle is exactly what he brought into NBL27.

Coming off a season in which he won the Next Generation Award and lifted his scoring from 11.9 to 17.7 points per game, Mennenga told NBL Media’s Pete Hooley he wasn’t putting a ceiling on himself.

“I think you want to be a champion ... if you can be a champion, you can be an MVP,” he said.

“I think if anyone has a problem with that, they’re mad, because you’re shooting for the stars. Why not aim for the highest honours and try and get there and earn more respect?”

The Breakers face the defending champion Sydney Kings in Canberra on Wednesday night, still short on bodies, but Mennenga isn’t using that as an excuse to lower the bar.

“I don’t think you should ever go into a game not thinking that you can win it,” he said.

“Regardless of pieces, you play the cards you’re dealt.”

In August, the MVP talk sounded lofty. After 40 and 18 with half his backcourt missing, it sounds like a player doing exactly what he said he would.