Refs reviewed the end of quarter and put .8 back on the clock in which Craig managed an amazing prayer which went in. 22/14 to end the quarter

I have never seen such a bad free throw shooting point guard in this league EVER than Cedric Jackson. His shooting by itself is shocking but his free throw shooting is another level of bad. Does he not practice free throws? It's cringeworthy seeing a point guard miss so many free throws.

Only highlight of this game is Triggers hair! NZ probs win but they havent shown me a thing to warrant a playoff birth. Hopefully for the NBL sake Adelaide scrape in, more exciting style of play. Its all fallen apart so quickly, i had them as a my mid season favourite!!

3 point party going on in Cairns right now!

Oh dear NZ...

Cedric has no range but makes back to back 3's, got to love sport for the variables! Nice finish coming up, Cairns will keep coming.

WOW Torrey Craig could still be that key import Adelaide were after! If those free throws put the game away, thats as good as a foot in the playoff door...

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS GO CAIRNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SIXERS FOR 4TH!

Where's blowout troll tonight?

Real poor form by Webster after the turnover there, just slowly walks up the court instead of trying to come up with the quick foul.

What was that technical foul for ?

I find it hard to believe no one in Cam Tragardh's life, be it family, team mates or friends, have had the decency to tell him how bad that top knot looks.

He's too old to be messing around with junk like that.

Webster has been poor all round of late...

And Triggers hair is so laughable he looks like a one man fringe act!

I think it might be time for Cedric Jackson and New Zealand to part ways. The guy used to finish his lay-ups and get a lot of steals. This season though he hasn't been able to finish often, steals are down and his free throw percentage this season has cost them a few game - including tonight 2/9ft??? Coach should make him take 100 a day as 44% or whatever he is shooting isn't good enough. Guys like Randle and Gliddon manage to get their free throws.

I think Cedric is very over rated these days.

What an incredible end. NZ have no one to blame but themselves, 13/30 from the stripe, including 2/9 from Jackson is some terrible combination of hilarious and horrible.

lUlz, NZ.

43% from the stripe, how many games has that cost them this season?

As for Webster - what a fall from grace, potentially leading the MVP race at one stage, to 23% shooting and just giving up on so many plays..

Season done and dusted.

The NBL is not a terrible league.

Still not sure what went wrong with the Breakers. A team that is stacked that has failed. Seems like too many guys want to get their numbers and not do the hard work.

Heard there is in fighting or something but that should have been sorted weeks ago.

No way Webster ever makes NBA - Daniel Ewing may suck up to him and tell him that but there is no chance.

Cedric Jackson free throw shooting is embarrassing to watch. As good as he is in other areas teams are no fouling him on drives knowing that the chances are he bricks both.

Abercrombie and Wesley have both been inconsistent. Up and down. Their bad games are bad, while their good games are very good.

TeRangi would be lucky to get a game in the SEABL th way he has played this season.

I think the in fighting is very hard to reconcile if the rumour ive heard is even remotely true. You cant come back from it type stuff, and the time line lands very much in sinc with just how badly they have started playing and how unhappy they look as a group. Having a star player who cant make free throws never helps either. Adelaide 36er fans will remember how great Julius was getting to the rim, but if he didnt make the layup, he sure as hell wasnt making the free throws.

If Hodge missed they had Schensher to dunk it home lol. Despite Hodge not being liked he could play.

The rumour appears to have something to do with a girlfriend/partner.

Considering Abercrombie and Webster just had babies it seems to limit it a bit.

Hodge 60% free thro shooter in NBL

51% field goal though

What was the Technical foul for???

Theres not too much wrong with the breakers apart from their Free Throws. Had they consistently be hitting 70% of their FT's they would most likely had lost 4-5 fewer games and be sitting at the top of the ladder.

It's not just missing out on the points from missed free throws its the fact they are keeping their opponent in the game when they should be 10+ ahead. It eases the pressure of their opponents and instead creates pressure for themselves.

If they haven't already they should really invest in a sports psychologist and all be out shooting at least 100 FT's every day to sort that shite out.

They certainly are lacking killer instinct / a clutch player / general basketball IQ at the moment!

So can someone just address the rumours for those of us who are ill-informed?!

Also, from twitter:
The @NZBreakers have only been outscored by a total of 45-pts on the road this year (record 3-9) but missed 102 FT's by shooting 58.5%.

Pretty funny how they keep finding ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory .
Credit to Cairns for wanting it more.

I don't think Cairns even wanted it more, NZ kept handing it to them.

Exactly has Train and others have said, the missed FTs kept Cairns in the game, NZ were at least a 10 point better team all night.

Charles Jackson is the anomaly with NZ. He puts in great effort at both ends and is completely unselfish. He is regularly open but they don't pass to him. I would love for him to come to Cairns to replace some of our elder statesmen, or even see another NBL team pick him up where he will be appreciated.

Who put penis on payroll?

The Illawarra and Cairns chokes must kill the Breakers, they've put aside their internal issues in those games and played hard, only to choke down the stretch, that can only make the divisions bigger afterwards.

Not sure why Vickerman keeps going to Webster in those situations, he obviously hasn't been able to cope with what's going on and isn't up to being a game winner anymore.

Last night he was unlucky, Gliddon kicked the ball and Vaughn Mayberry missed it and then neglected to review which was pretty poor, but Webster's decision to try and go 1-on-2 was poor as well.

Vickerman was right to start Pledger and use Charles Jackson for impact off the bench. I liked when he played both of them together at times earlier in the season.
At least they were competitive down to the wire rather than just losing in a blowout.

Vickerman was also right to get the hell out of there at seasons end imo its going to hit the fan at some point. Breakers will have to really scout some new import talent, cant see Cedric Jackson being back, and they need to find another pure shooter to spread the floor like a Penney or Phil Jones type. Non of their shooters truly draw fear into opponents like those types do. Easier said than found though!

Well, until the shit hit the fan Abercrombie and Webster were two of the most feared shooters in the league.

Not sure of Jackson's contract status but whether he's back will prob depend on some other moves. Really, I doubt there'll be a major overhaul, fix the internal issue and they become a championship contender again.

Abercrombie is capable and Webster is legit off the dribble well was... but i mean the types that you absolutely can not leave in the corner, you know pure shooter types. I think there will be an overhaul, a few familiar names and will be elsewhere, internal issues are alot harder to fix with human nature involved than traditional injuries etc

Abercrombie has never been one of the most feared shooters in the league.

He is definitely capable but thats about it, agreed not a feared guy from range.

Opposition teams disagree with you, they put a lot of work into not giving him looks.

Good shooter. Not feared.

I'm not completely writing off Cairns until I see how Adelaide goes vs Illawarra. If Adelaide runs into trouble with Illawarra- who can outscore Adelaide and have more defensive variations under their belt- then it could get interesting because they play 3 more times.

Cairns are a sneaky chance. They have a good record vs Perth and NZ- who are two of their remaining opponents. And would obviously need to beat Adelaide in that game and get the split.

But it's not actually out of the question....

I dont know that NZ are lacking the skills. I think they are lackinng confidence which is more than 70 percent of the game. I think if they can string 1-2 wins together, they will be back near their best.

FT's aside, Abercrombie and Pledger could not have had better games. CJ could not have shot the ball any better. And we still came up short. Webster's game has just faded so badly inside of two weeks. From "all confidence, I can do anything" to "all tentative and I hope this hits the ring".
Starting Pledge and trying to get him the ball was a good step, but you have to ask why now? He should have been a go to option all season, and I not saying he was money all the time but he is much taller than Tai Wesley option. We have lived with the Webster's J for too long with no plan B. He is a streak shooter and when he's misfiring it has become embarrassing.
Defensively we have been found out. We foul too much. We can't defend a pick and roll when either Pledge's man or Charles's man sets the pick. The league has gone to another level and we struggle to contain all the talent that is about.
Look at United with Chris Goulding when he went through a shooting slump a month or so back, others picked up the slack, Chris was able to slowly get his confidence back. Webster does not have that support and he actually plays himself deeper into a hole.
I like Dean Vickerman but six in a row means the season is over and we need to plan and recruit for next year.

I think with our schedule we could go 5-1, 4-2 and the 6ers could go 1-5, 0-6, and we could still make play-offs...definitely good enough to do so, but IF they can fire is another story! COME ON BREAKERS! LIFT!