The Secret is Out; This Breakers Outfit is for Real

How good is this current Sky Sport Breakers outfit?

Top of the league for the first time since 2018, but in the next 10 days, we will know if they really are the real deal.

Tomorrow night they play SEM Phoenix in Christchurch, the only team to comprehensively beat them this season; Saturday, it’s the arch-rival Perth Wildcats at Spark Arena before a rematch against the champion Sydney Kings next week.  A team which has also beaten Mody’s men in NBL23.

“We are looking forward to a tough little challenge in this next three-game stretch against some outstanding teams,” says Breakers Captain and four-time NBL champion Tom Abercrombie.

“All the talk is great, but we can’t get caught up in that stuff; we have to worry about what we are doing as a team and how we are performing,” he says.

“The next week will give us a good measure of whether we are worthy of the top spot.”

Abercrombie and Mody Maor can draw on the experience of the strain and torture of the last two years when the team was forced to relocate to Australia and live in hotels because of the COVID pandemic.

Now there is an even playing ground, as the kiwi outfit can play home games in New Zealand again in front of diehard fans – rather than in an empty stadium in Hobart.

“It was one of my big motivators trying to rediscover my love for the game because my enthusiasm did dip over the last couple of years,” says Abercrombie.

“We’ve tried not to dwell on the past and look back at the last two years;  I’m happy to say I’m enjoying myself right now.”

The game against the Phoenix in Christchurch tomrrow night promises to be fascinating.

For one, the two form Power Forwards of the league, Jarrell Brantley and Mitch Creek, square off again.

The other fascinating aspect is that the last time these two sides met last month, the Phoenix handed out a good old-fashioned dusting to the Breakers – winning by 22 points in the kiwi club’s worst loss of the season.

So far it has been the only game where the Breakers have not been competitive.

“We were soft from the tip, and they got their tails up and got off to a good start.  We’ve learnt a lot since then, and I think we are a completely different team now,” says Abercrombie.

But what of talk the Phoenix have the wood on the Breakers?

“I don’t think they’ve got the wood on us because they’ve beaten us over the last couple of years.  A lot of teams have beaten us over the last couple of years,” he says with a wry smile.

Undoubtedly this year is a lot kinder with the Breakers playing at home.  

At 10-3 in the league and top of the NBL table, there is no better time for the New Zealanders to repel the threat from the Phoenix and take another step towards proving to doubters they really are the real deal in NBL23.