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Coach remains grounded as Breakers fly high

Marc Hinton

If it’s possible to be wary because your team is playing too well, Breakers coach Mody Maor fits that bill right now as his runaway Australian NBL leaders get set to face staunch rivals the Perth Wildcats for the first time this season.

Maor’s team is in a purple patch in the Australian league, despite a gruelling schedule that has tested their staying power. They head into tonight’s match in Auckland against the Wildcats with form, momentum and confidence riding high.

After Thursday night’s 110-84 torching of the South East Melbourne Phoenix in Christchurch, which followed a similar 116-79 spanking of the Brisbane Bullets in Auckland last Sunday, Maor’s men have won five straight, and eight of their last nine, as they sashayed to 11 wins and three losses – a trio of victories clear of the Sydney Kings atop the standings.

Yet Maor is showing no signs of comfort. On Tuesday at the end of the first practice back following the Bullets victory he gave his team a verbal lashing, no doubt fearing complacency after such a polished performance. Goodness knows what he might do ahead of the Perth clash, for his team showed no slippage against a quality Phoenix outfit in another blistering effort.

Led by ‘Downtown’ Barry Brown Jr’s sizzling 31 points in 24 minutes off the bench, Jarrell Brantley’s 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting and a sweet cameo of 17 points in 9:37 from Rob Loe, the Breakers eased away from the Phoenix with strong showings at both ends of the court.

But afterwards there was an edge about Maor as he reflected on the performance. Fans may be rejoicing over the Kiwi resurgence on the back of their 2021-22 season from hell, but the first-year Breakers head coach understands there are twists and turns to come on this journey yet.

‘‘I was very happy with the way we defended in the first half,’’ he said of the 63-39 advantage.

‘‘We picked our spots and controlled the areas we wanted to control on defence, and when our defence did break down I really enjoyed our guys putting in multiple efforts.

‘‘Everything is a growing step for us. We want to keep improving, and learning how to play when in the lead is also important for our team.’’

The Breakers have hung their hat on defence all season, clearly the best in the league that side of the ball. But they are a growing offensive force, too, evidenced by 226 points over their last two outings.

On Thursday the effort went well beyond Brown’s explosiveness. He and Loe (back after a spell out with head and back injuries) led a mammoth 62 points off the bench, while Will McDowell-White added 14 points, 11 assists and 5 boards, Dererk Pardon (8 points, 10 rebounds) remains a workhorse, and Tom Abercrombie and Cam Gliddon are edging back into form nicely.

Maor puts his team’s improved offence down to three things.

‘‘The first is defence. When we get stops and defensive rebounds, we get into our offence faster and it’s easier to create advantages. The second thing is individual development of players ... everybody is getting better, both honing their skills and in decision-making within the frame of our offence. And third, we have a better understanding now of where our shots come from, what is the shot profile we want and how we generate them. And it doesn’t do any harm to have good players.’’

Next up are the reeling 5-7 Wildcats, including long-time Breaker Corey Webster. They have lost their last two, including 106-95 in overtime to the Bullets in Brisbane on Thursday, and three of their last five to sit seventh.

‘‘Perth are are an incredible organisation, an incredible club, with a few of the best players the NBL has to offer,’’ declared Maor. ‘‘They present challenges, and that’s the beauty of the NBL – you never walk into an easy one. We’re expecting a real battle.’’

Sport

en-nz

2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282123525533534

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