Not end of a dynasty yet. Only three players contracted, but Vukona, Abercrombie, and Webster are those three if I remember the tweet correctly, and that is a very strong start.

Not really sure what the teams will look like next season if all the mooted changes are made.
But as it stands, I think NZ still have an exceptional core group. Vukona is really the only one on the wrong side of 35, and yet he is such a legend and such a competitor that I'm sure he's got a couple of good years left in him.

Cedric had (by his standards) an unsettled year, but remains one of the elite PGs in the league. Not sure how the laws are in NZ, but he might be in line for naturalisation soonish?

Be interesting to see if they go for another Ibekwe / Jackson type? Or maybe someone who's a higher-scoring 4/5 type...

If the system remains unchanged, I think what may hinder NZ under the PPR system is the "breaks" that Vukona, Cedric, and Webster took away from the team. That's another 6 points gone begging there.
Their 7 core players could absorb 54~57 points. That might allow them to bring in another import if they can rely on players like Ili, Mcdonald, or Bartlett to fill out the bench.

(Or everything could change with proposed new rules...)

"Cedric Jackson is to ball dominante and dosent get his teammates involved enough."

He's only the first player to lead the NBL in assists in his first four seasons! He does have his moments where he gets caught up one-on-one, but overall he is one of the greats at getting his teammates shots and making them better.

A great shot of common sense there, Paul... Later in the season Cedric DID seem to force things too much, but his 3pt shot was dropping and from what I've seen, that is a pretty strong drug that when it DOES stop dropping, especially for someone who isn't used to it dropping, it could be a hard thing to kick... Plus throw in a bit of team turmoil and Webster being inconsistent, I think we can overlook any sort of desire to try to take things over himself...

Were there rumours that Cedric might be following Lemanis to BrisVegas? Can any of our NZ brethren confirm any stronger relationships between Lemanis or Vickerman?

Otherwise, you'd think that with the big three locked in (did Webster honour his initial 3yr deal upon returning from the NBA?), Pledger would be a lock and then all the role players will fall into line, if they're wanted...

Dazz,

Vukona is really the only one on the wrong side of 35

With Pledger back to full fitness they could afford to go with a stretch five backing him up. Rob Loe would be the obvious choice for that role.

Pledger/Loe
Vukona/Wesley
Abercrombie/Te Rangi
Webster/???
Jackson/Ili

That team will be very hard to beat, as they always are. The mid-season slump cost them any chance at HCA this season, and that's the difference between a title and runners up.

Defensively, Charles Jackson was a beast for the Breakers this year. Foul prone yes, but a strong inside presence nonetheless.

But they have an issue on offense, with Vukona not looking for his mid range shot often enough. That gives them 3 of 4 bigs without much range. Perhaps it's worth looking at a Gary Wilkinson/Seth Scott/Adam Ballinger type big for next season.

Cedric won't be with NZ next year. He'll move to another team or back to America.

That 7 game win streak was fairly solid though.....Lost the one that really mattered unfortunately but Perth deserve a lot of credit for that.

I think you'll find Cedric will be back and very pissed off he didn't win another title.

I don't think there'll be many changes either, unless Webster or Abercrombie get a big offer from OS, but history and the fact theyve both got bubs suggests it would have to be a great offer. I think Jackson will be back to take vengeance on those who gave him no love in the awards voting!

They need a big who can shoot from the perimeter or atleast has a solid mid-range game to stretch the bigs out. Perth just knew that MV,CJ and Pledger were never going to be a threat from the perimeter or the mid-range game so they just packed the paint and took out any driving lane for their guards and forced them into a jump shooting team.

Oops.
Not sure how that happened, I meant "wrong side of 30"
Anyway my point was meant to be that there core players aren't that old (I think Cedric is just 30?)
and whilst Vukona may be the veteran, its got a lot of good basketball left.

I don't profess any detailed knowledge of the Breakers. It seems to be that in recent seasons they have gone for a similar type of player in Ibekwe and Jackson. And with Pledger fit, it seems a bit of a redundancy. Jackson was impressive in some ways, but his scoring seemed more opportunistic.
Its no coincidence that Pledger averaged 19 minutes & Jackson 20. That's why I thought about a 4/5 who could play some minutes alongside Pledger. Similar I suppose to the role Wilkinson played for them , and perhaps a bit like Warrick has played for MU.

Wasn't the Breakers slump blamed upon problems between a couple of players and a wife/girlfriend? If that is the case, one of them will have to go and it won't be the wife/girlfriend.
A man may put an issue like that aside for a few weeks to get a job done, but not for a year.

IIRC Webster's wife left him, his form slumped, and rumours circulated.
There was a weird article which spoke about "betrayal" between Webster & Cedric.
What wasn't clear was whether it was talking about Webster not pulling his weight, or one or the other had been diddling the other's better half.

Have no idea what the truth or otherwise is, so will just have to wait and see.

I would love to see a team of:

Ced Jackson/ Shea Ili
Corey Webster / Import / Bartlett (11th man)
Tom Abercrombie / Kirk Penney
Mika Vukona / Tai Wesley
Alex Pledger / Charles Jackson

Obviously it is unlikely that Kirk Penney will be back and playing a backup role and then that spot is likely to be occupied by Reuben TeRangi and if Charles Jackson isn't able to be retained I would love to see Rob Loe take that spot to stretch the floor. The third import would likely be a 2/3.
With the rosters being stretched to 11 the Breakers can hopefully keep Bartlett.

Mystro,
from what I have read, the 11th man proposal is to allow teams to take a DP on the road.

Do you think the breakers are best with a Charles Jackson type, or perhaps a 4/5 who could play some minutes alongside Pledger?

What type of player would you look for in your 3rd import?

Breakers need someone who can come on and score, weather it's a Torrey Craig type player or a pure SG. A stretch 4/5 would work but when Abercrombie and Webster are firing I'm not sure another shooter is required over some rim protection.

Hopefully Jawai will get even rounder in the offseason so he can only play 5/10 mins a game :)

I think a lot of teams will be after Craig this year.

Ced just didn't look right to me this season... He was a turnover waiting to happen when he got inside the key, and really tried to force a lot of tough passes - especially on the break, and NZ missed out on some easy hoops because he took the fancy pass over the simple one. I think the hot streak from 3 in the post season was almost a curse, changed the way he played in the Finals, and when his first couple didn't drop in game 3 he vanished.

Despite all that, I would love him in Sydney...

Interesting.
Like many, I was surprised that Vickerman didn't give Bartlett more minutes in the finals, I thought he could have added a couple of threes, especially when Cedric was struggling. But perhaps he's just not a big-game player?

I would imagine that when Cedric is on his game, with Webster & Abercrombie, your perimeter shooting is sorted? With Bartlett adding something off the bench.

Craig I thought was better last season, but still a good player.

Will be interesting to see which way NZ goes.

I think the Breakers did alright despite having such a thin bench. Guys like Te Rangi, McDonald & Bartlett need to be culled especially when Ili a DP is playing in crucial periods ahead of those three.

TeRangi is only 21 I believe, he isn't going to be cut but needs to put in work to develop his offensive game more.
McDonald is redundant with Ili coming through and Bartlett will likely lose his spot to an import.
Part of the deal getting Jackson back was the the lure of naturalisation and playing international basketball. I can't see him leaving the Breakers now.

If the Breakers want to waste a roster spot on Te Rangi a guy who shoots 29% from the field and 21% on 3pts and is a liability on the court that is their business but if they want to seriously challenge Perth next time I think they need more out of the Te Rangi/Bartlett/McDonald spots on the roster. Ili at least offers something.

Te Rangi is going nowhere else but staying at Breakers. He is part of the future of the team and will be a real worrier in years to come . McDonald was always just a one year contract, just in case Webster did not come back from NBA, and his work with Ili to speed up his development has been significant. The real question for Bartlett is whether he will get enough minutes with Webster in the team or he will have a better career playing somewhere else.

The rumours around the Breakers didn't involve any players wife.

At least the Breakers are big on developing local talent. Te Rangi is still very young, younger than your average returning college player. Not saying he's a super-star, but will be interesting to see how he develops. Ili I think shows promise.
McDonald I assume was a stop-gap measure, I wouldn't expect him to stay around. If Te Rangi & Ili are taking spots 9 & 10, that still leaves plenty of scope for depth, especially if they use their import slots well.

This may be a bit off-base, but I suspect NZ with Vukona and Wesley, may be where we were last year with Redhage and Wagstaff. The Veteran not really good enough to keep the starting 5 competitive, and bench-player taking minutes but not really up to replacing him?
Vukona is a dead set legend, but I'm not sure he's still up to the demands placed upon him, especially with the current lineup? That's why I thought replacing Jackson with something like a younger version of Hakim Warrick or even a Matty Knight type?

You didn't watch the semis, did you?

Through the slump I was critical of everyone but especially Vukona. Come the games that mattered (well apart from the final) he was a Beast.
Wesley was pretty good when not injured/sick.

As I may have mentioned elsewhere, NZ is fortunate to have a couple of players, especially Vukona, who bring their A game come finals time (although I think G3 was a bit much even for him.) But doesn't that suggest that playing a few less minutes would be good for him?
Wesley's good. Of similar sized forwards he was probably close to the best in the league.
Fact is the existing NZ lineup made it to G3 on the GF, so we're only talking about tweaking the front court, and maybe covering for Mika getting a year older.

In the backcourt, maybe just some more depth on the bench? If you get Cedric naturalised, maybe pick up a 2nd-tier import combo guard for the bench?
Someone like Jett, I think he's in NZ already? :-)