Who will step up for "Irreplaceable" Abercrombie?

The impending retirement of Tom Abercrombie will leave some big shoes to fill for next season’s Breakers roster, and legendary New Zealand broadcaster Andrew Mulligan has backed Finn Delany to step into the breach and fill the void that will be left by the departing captain.

Abercrombie’s retirement from basketball was announced on Tuesday morning, and Friday’s clash with Brisbane could be the final time the iconic local talent graces the Spark Arena floor.

The four-time champion will retire with over 420 NBL appearances to his name – all with the Breakers – and has been the solitary constant in the organisation over a tumultuous 15 years.

“He is, without a doubt he is irreplaceable,” Mulligan said on NBL Now.

“It will be very interesting next season, if we see Mody Maor back, if we see Will McDowell-White back, you just don’t see Breakers keep their imports like they did with Cedric Jackson. They bring these guys in at a lower value than you’d expect them to be paid with where they’ve come from. For Tom Abercrombie not to be there and be that constant, it’s big shoes to fill.

“I see a guy like Finn Delany having to fill those shoes and he’ll do an admirable job, but he’s not Tom. He’s a homegrown kid because he’s from New Zealand – he’s from Nelson on the South Island, he’s not an Aucklander, he’s not a North Shorer, he’s not literally from a couple of kilometers up the road from Mairangi Bay where they have their headquarters.

“It is so hard to fill the boots Tom Abercrombie is about to unlace at the end of the season.

“The constant for that Breakers organisation has always been Tom Abercrombie. They’ve had Dillon Boucher, Paul Henare, Mika Vukona, these guys are New Zealand basketball royalty, but Tom Abercrombie has outlasted them all, and that’s a testament to the quality of person he is and how he was brought up. He’s a North Shore kid, he’s entrenched in that basketball scene since when he was in high school. 

“For him it was just being there and being that constant voice. Players coming and going always respected what Tom Abercrombie brought.”

Mulligan says the Spark Arena crowd was in full voice for the Breakers’ Round 19 victory over Illawarra, largely due to the Finals permutations that were riding on the game.

New Zealand eventually emerged as three-point victors from the clash, however a defeat later in the week to Melbourne has seen the Breakers precariously position themselves in sixth position heading into the final weekend.

Mulligan says the pressure riding on Friday’s result against Brisbane coupled with the impending retirement of Abercrombie could cultivate the biggest, loudest crowd Spark Arena has seen in recent memory.

“Last Friday night, it took me by surprise how emotional that crowd was. Spark Arena is loud, and it’s a nice bunch of people, but it is not Perth, it is not Cairns, it is not Tasmania. During the season you’d hear the boos come out and think ‘good on you, Spark Arena, you use that home court advantage,’ because they’re not like that,” he said.

“They’re not feral at times, there are no feral sections, there’s no bad tasted jokes towards the away players but Friday night was something special because they knew what was at stake. This Friday night I think it will be up another level, it will be like that series against the JackJumpers and then the Sydney Kings.

“The desperation that crowd will have, and to add in the fact it’s Tom’s last game, I expect a full house. I expect 9000 there and they may have to push the curtains all the way up and get 10,000, maybe 11,000, because it’s going to be an occasion. The Brisbane Bullets will hear it as well.”

New Zealand’s clash with Brisbane will be shown live on ESPN via Kayo, and Sky Sport in New Zealand, from 5:30pm AEDT.