Dane Pineau joins the Breakers on a two-year deal

Mody Maor has recruited an experienced Australian with 131 NBL appearances to his New Zealand Breakers roster as a direct replacement for Rob Loe, who announced his shock retirement earlier this month.

28-year-old Dane Pineau has signed a two-year deal after spending the last four seasons with the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

It is another shrewd signing by Maor as the 206cm backup Centre will fit effortlessly into the Breakers’ rotation because he is linking up with old Phoenix Guards Izayah Le’afa and Cam Gliddon at the Auckland-based club.

“Dane has great Pick and Roll attributes, making him an extremely natural fit into our environment and style of play,” says Head Coach Mody Maor.

“I believe moving to Auckland will be a seamless fit for Dane.” 

Pineau can also draw on the experience of playing two seasons with the Sydney Kings, where he played 28 games between 2017-19.

Basketball is in Pineau’s blood, with his father previously playing for the Melbourne Tigers.

He led the NBL in field goal percentage in 2020 at 66.4% and was runner-up to Will Magnay (who had a stint in the NBA) as the Most Improved Player that season.

“Dane is one of the hardest playing players in the NBL, and he has done so consistently over the past few seasons, regardless of his role in a team,” says Maor.

Pineau is the ninth player confirmed in Maor’s NBL24 roster.

They are Tom Abercrombie, Will McDowell-White, Izayah Le’afa, Dan Fotu, Tom Vodanovich, Cam Gliddon, Mangok Mathiang and NBL Next Star Mantas Rubštavi?ius.

There are 11 players in an NBL roster, with each team allowed a maximum of three imports.

An NBL Next Star has a special exemption to play alongside the 11 senior professionals.

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