The Man Behind the Breakers' Incredible Transformation

Saturday, November 26, 2022

New Zealand Breakers owner Matt Walsh is delighted with the job coach Mody Maor has done in his debut season.

Maor was appointed head coach after former Breakers head coach Dan Shamir stepped down, after three years in the job.

Maor was Shamir’s assistant during his tenure as coach, enabling to already build a relationship with New Zealand before stepping into the main chair.

From winning just five games last season, under Maor’s leadership, the Breakers are sitting at 8-3 and second on the ladder in NBL23.

It's been an incredible transformation.

“Mody has elevated the club and he’s done everything we could’ve asked for,” Walsh said.

“We needed a new voice, and that was just a build-up of constant pressure and stress and personal struggle for two years.

“Mody recognised that, he came in with a really good attitude, he understood exactly what we wanted from the organisation as a team.

“It’s great, I love Mody.

“The fact that now we deal with some crazy travel we’re able to overcome those obstacles and I think more than anything, our staff and our players are more resilient ... I think Mody’s done an absolutely fantastic job.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mody Maor reflects on the recent birth of his daughter and coaching the <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZBreakers</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> <a href="https://t.co/LbS6yWdGyN">pic.twitter.com/LbS6yWdGyN</a></p>— Liam Santamaria (@Liam_Santa) <a href="https://twitter.com/Liam_Santa/status/1594587978474872832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Walsh commended the Breakers for their persistence and results, despite a tough two years due to COVID complications and difficult travel schedules.

“We’re the only professional sports organisation in the world that was out of our market for the last two years,” Walsh said.

“We’ve been successful the last season or so, minus the fact that we’ve had to be on the road.

“I think that that’s hardened us I think that’s made us tough, our staff and our players have grown from that we’ve taken those lessons.”

The Breakers play the Cairns Taipans on Friday at 7:30pm AEDT at the Cairns Convention Centre.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The New Zealand Breakers pipped Cairns to the post in a defensively-minded battle of wills on Sunday afternoon ?<br><br>Kick off your week by re-living the action from yesterday's game! <a href="https://t.co/SkJ1KJDwnR">pic.twitter.com/SkJ1KJDwnR</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1584288557572636673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>