Breakers coach wants to inject Kiwi DNA

Lip service or legitimate change? Breakers’ fans and critics alike will be watching closely as the head coaching era of Mody Maor unfolds at New Zealand’s only Australian National Basketball League club.

Maor has come in promising plenty after being unveiled as the successor for compatriot, and close friend, Dan Shamir. The extrovert Israeli had served as chief assistant for the past three years, and was promoted when the under-contract Shamir departed after a testing last couple of seasons under the shroud of the global pandemic.

Instead of a new-broom approach, the Breakers have opted for continuity with their head coach. Interestingly, Maor inherits just three players from the squad who struggled to a club-worst 5w-23l record in the season just gone – veterans Tom Abercrombie and Rob Loe (both coming off sub-par seasons) and re-signed rookie Sam Timmins. It’s understood the off-contract forward Finn Delany won’t be back, as he looks for a fresh start, possibly in Europe.

They have added 22-year-old New Zealand collegian Daniel Fotu to that list as a fourth member of the ‘‘Kiwi core’’. And more should be coming, if

Maor’s early utterings are any guide.

The new head coach is pledging to go on a ‘‘journey of rebuilding’’ and to ‘‘reconnect to the roots’’ of the club by getting back to the New Zealand identity that was the fundamental essence of the group who won four championships in five years between 2010-15.

It is just to be hoped his boss – chief executive and ownership group head Matt Walsh – is on the same page. A number of his key decisions have resulted in ties being cut with highly respected New Zealand basketball personnel, while his critics point out he seems more interested in developing players for the NBA Draft than improving Kiwi talent.

‘‘I am well aware of the legacy this club has in the NBL and of the expectations all Kiwis have of the Breakers to perform with excellence,’’ said Maor in a video released by the club. ‘‘Reconnecting to the roots, culture and intensity that were the championships teams of the Breakers is a focal point of the culture we want to instil. We are going to hit the ground running in an attempt to rebuild our roster with players who exemplify the character and style of player we are looking for.

‘‘There is a great Kiwi core out there for us to recruit.’’

Interesting, and promising, words. But do they mean anything? Since Walsh took over four years ago, there has been a gradual move away from the New Zealand identity of the club – both at a coaching and playing level. It has not worked, with the Breakers missing the playoffs all four of those seasons and posting a winning record just once (15-13 in 2019-20). Not a single import has been retained over that period either.

It needs to be acknowledged that as owner Walsh can take the club in any direction he chooses. And he has retained a small group of New Zealand players in the form of Loe, Abercrombie and Delany over his time. He tried his best to keep Tai

Webster, too, but that proved problematic.

It’s worth examining the people Walsh has either cut loose, or allowed to leave the club since he took over.

From management and coaching Dillon Boucher and Mike Fitchett have gone, and Boucher’s playing singlet hangs from the rafters. On the playing side Shea Ili (in a decision that defied belief), Tom Vodanovich, Jordan Ngatai and Mika Vukona were all waved off, Yanni Wetzell was bypassed his first season out of college (and eventually signed after a breakthrough rookie season at SEM), and Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’afa likewise allowed to head to the Phoenix.

Vukona was an interesting case. Walsh saw him as a player past his best. But where is he now? Playing a key behind-thescenes role for new chums Tasmania JackJumpers who made the grand final their inaugural season because, well, they played harder and together better than anybody else.

Vukona’s innate ability to establish key intangibles such as culture, leadership and accountability was never fully grasped by Breakers management.

It’s a fine line on these things. The Breakers need imported talent and the odd key Aussie to round out their roster. Kiwis alone won’t get the job done in a league as good as the ANBL. And it must be said, Fotu and Sam Waardenburg apart, there are not exactly a raft of young Kiwis banging their door down.

But forging an identity is vital. A culture inevitably follows. It got the Breakers those four championships, and the JackJumpers into a grand final in year one. Maor must be allowed to back up his words with actions.

Years ago the architect of the 2010-13 threepeat, Andrej Lemanis, told me his big breakthrough as coach came when he realised the ‘‘New Zealand-ness’’ of the team was not its weakness, but its strength. Hopefully, it’s a realisation Walsh has come to as well. His new coach needs his support.

‘Since Matt Walsh took over there has been a gradual move away from the NZ identity of the club – both at a coaching and playing level.