Almost must win for Kings as well if they want to prove they're going to be factor in finals.

Too many close losses for the Breakers. Good chance they miss playoffs now.

Kings with nice start

Leafa great defender, lmao. Kings by 15 at the 1/4. Early days but kings looking very efficient and reasonable team play, again only 1/4 time but nz look a rabble.

Valentine has found his colour, pink, just can't miss at present. Hunter very good at both ends, lovely screens and passes, hand offs.

NZ on paper have probably the best team in the nbl, what's happened to them, I’ve said before Moar should be doing a lot better. Starting Pineau in 2nd half, hardly played him all season.

Mvp Adams on show today

Will know next week against cats if kings are back, today's game was fools gold even if the form looked good.

Moady obviously has his players backs and they seem to respect him but some of his coaching and subbing is mind boggling. Perhaps too many stars and not enough blue collar guys. Imo from outside view he plays a few favourites and others just don’t get a look in.

Dunkman it may be good on paper but that's cos match ups don't mean anything. But once you're on court and your roster is made up of 3 x PGs and 3 x PFs you're gonna get found out at times.

Burnt again today from no rim defence and no SG. Simple as that

Yeah the Kings shot the 3 ball really well, but they came out with a different mindset from the opening tip, out-hustling the Breakers and getting their energy on offense off of stops and boards. Adams looked a little more like that guy we had a few seasons' back, Valentine was looking to get downhill and attack rather than just chuck 3s, and Noi in particular was the most active I've seen from him on defense.

Breakers far from their best and probably a bit too deflated after Friday's game. Offensively for stretches they actually reminded me a lot of how the Kings have been looking since the struggles began.

Hate to mention that idiot Jacket, but Kings made their 3s and got confidence, Breakers didn't and were playing catch-up. Valentine and Adams simply not missing anything.
New Zealand just haven't got the chemistry they had last year. As in telecast, WMW hasn't played well with PJC who handles the ball more than what Brown did last year who was more off ball and benefited from WMW penetration. Then they're missing the toughness of Pardon who did the dirty work and seemed to inspire his teammates with his hustle plays, defence and rebounding. They probably thought Mathiang to replace that, but he's been absolutely terrible. Missing Delaney certainly hasn't helped in those areas either. And while Rubštavičius is a better offensive player, Rupert was an extremely good defender with his length. Lamb is one of best scorers in the league as is PJC, but they're more one on one players, Brantley was more a jack of all trades and seemed to complement the above. To sum up, the Breakers are virtually a completely different team to last year, gone from a tough defensive group to a more individual style of play. Injuries haven't helped, but they certainly haven't surrounded WMW with players that fit his style of play. All can play (Mathiang the exception this year), just not as a group.
But no-one could have beaten Sydney today with the way they shot, especially in the first half. And it mainly came in the half court. Their defence still looks dodgy, especially that zone. May have an outlier game like today in the future, but doubtful they can do that on a consistent basis.

@kolzee there is a SG shooting at 53% from 3 this season who is a quality defender in Gliddon, who Mody has relegated to just junk time and DNPs when quality shooting is what this roster is lacking. NZB need someone who WMW/PJC would be able to feed the ball to that would open everyone else up.
Cheatham still not where he was before injury and Leafa in a slump isn't helping. One more loss and season over for NZB.
Adams is a gun and this could be the win Sydney needed to get back on track.

Agreed totally, the over playing of Leafa ahead of Gliddon is head shaking. The minute here and there for Pineau is the same, starts second half and benched after two minutes, what is he going to do in two minutes. Cheatham isn't a five either for long periods. Are there different assistants to last season?

Dunkman

Mody team composition isnt great. But i recall you last year saying how great Abercrombie is. He is washed up and totally uaeless. Shouldnt see the court.


Koelze is rght. They have three point guards. And three power fowards.

Leafa isnt the problem.

Dan pinaeu - what is it with you and stiffs?

The team composition is just horrible. And mody needs to pipe down.

I like blue collar players with my stars, they win matches. Mathiang hasn't been good, Cheatham average since injury's and isn’t a five, while Pineau sits on the bench. Pineau gets you boards and plays D, something nz really need.

Yes i like blue collar as well.

I missed sydney game, but mathiang has been playing okay.

Fotu - where is fotu? Doesnt play, stays later at practice (according to Moar), starts for a bit. Now he sits...

Abercrombie is woeful now. Just pitiful. I cringe if he ever dribbles.

The composition is just all wrong.

WMW has been injured, so it could have been worse with PJC.

Moar cant develop players. Sit down and let them play.

The breakers roster has talent just the pieces don't fit together.

Recruiting above your two best local players isn’t a good thing. PJC doesn’t fit with WMW same with Cheatham and Delany.

No rebounding or defence

The breakers roster has talent just the pieces don't fit together.

Recruiting above your two best local players isn’t a good thing. PJC doesn’t fit with WMW same with Cheatham and Delany.

No rebounding or defence

Basket 91. Yep

Completely agree basket. They secured WMW against the odds then PJC comes available who is basically too good not to sign and suddenly mody has used most of his 1/23 budget on two PGs. It also doesn't help the roster mix that delany isn't performing.


@r49634 - you don't need to tell me about gliddon... I watched him shoot the lights out in the nz league and pretty sure in the preseason too so had hope he was going to get some time and chance to make an impact!

I don't fully agree with the negativity about the Breakers' roster, though I understand it after a really bad game in Sydney.

Before that they went within a whisker of beating Melbourne in a really high quality game. They're not long off a 4 game win streak. Given all the injuries they've had to deal with this year, to be 2 games off third is a reasonable effort.

Their problem is this team doesn't have the same hunger to defend as last year's squad, which makes it hard to see them winning 6 of 8 to finish and squeeze into the top six. It really highlights how important Brantley and Pardon were at that end last year, as others have pointed out.