Basketball: Breakers ignore numbers game

By JULIE ASH

New Zealand Breakers coach Frank Arsego admits he isn't the best with numbers so instead of trying to work out what chance his side have of making the ANBL playoffs he will just concentrate on their next game against the Victoria Giants.

The Breakers scored their third consecutive victory and fourth from their last five home matches with a 98-89 win over the Perth Wildcats at the North Shore Events Centre on Friday night.

They remain in 10th spot in the league and still have a mathematical chance of making the top eight.

"I didn't do well at maths," Arsego said. "I am nowhere near working out what is going to happen. All I can say is that the Breakers have got 10 wins and five games to play.

"When you look at the magical numbers they are all reachable but we have to do some special things."

The Breakers should secure a further two wins when they meet 11th-placed Victoria Giants on Wednesday night at the North Shore Events Centre and then bottom side Hunter Pirates in Australia on Friday night.

However, it then becomes a little trickier for the Breakers, who face the top-of-the-table Sydney Kings, second-placed Wollongong Hawks and then sixth-placed Adelaide 36ers in their final three matches.

"We have two games coming up against teams that are in the mix, then we go up against some big guns and we might have to catch one of them [out] but we'll see what happens," Arsego said.

"We are not looking any further ahead than the Giants and seeing if we can capture a series, which would be three series back-to-back which would be outstanding."

Without key players Dillon Boucher, who is sitting out a two-game suspension and Ben Melmeth, who has been ruled out of the rest of the season with injury, a strong second-half performance won Breakers the match against the Wildcats, giving them a 2-1 series win over the three times the teams have met in the league.

The Perth side struggled without Rashad Tucker, also suspended after being found guilty of punching Boucher following last Wednesday night's game in Christchurch.

Wildcats coach Mike Ellis had plenty to say about the physical nature of Friday night's game.

"It looked like a rugby match out there," Ellis said.

"You just can't play that style of game and get away with it. We certainly couldn't - they could, they had the numbers."

Arsego had no complaints.

"I could have come back from Western Australia and said the same thing but I didn't. In my eyes it was a tough game. I have seen playoff games played like that and I reckon our guys showed some character.

"That is the sort of the work you need to do in the critical time of the year if you want to move forward."

What lies ahead

WEDNESDAY: v Victoria Giants, North Shore

FRIDAY: v Hunter Pirates, Newcastle

FEB 14: v Sydney Kings, Sydney

FEB 18: v Wollongong Hawks, North Shore

FEB 28: v Adelaide 36ers, Adelaide

* The Breakers are 10th on 36 per cent winning record, the same as the Townsville Crocs. Eighth-placed Perth Wildcats are on 42 per cent, but have played four fewer games than the Breakers. The top eight teams make the playoffs.