Basketball: In-form Jones ready to take the heat

Guard Phill Jones is expecting to get more attention from opposition defences after rediscovering his shooting touch in the Australian National Basketball League.

The New Zealand Breakers take on the in-form Brisbane Bullets in Christchurch tonight in their first outing since snapping a six-match losing streak.

The sequence ended with their 93-91 win over Cairns in Auckland on November 1, when Jones grabbed a personal haul of 38 points.

That followed his effort in top-scoring for the Breakers with 16 points in the loss to the same side the previous night in Wellington.

Until the double-header against the Taipans, Jones had been disappointed with his shooting, but he now felt that a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"I've been shooting the ball pretty well this week," the Tall Black said.

"But now that I've had that game, teams are going to target me as someone to stop and it's only going to get more difficult from here on in."

Jones, a West Coaster who will be making a homecoming of sorts in that he was born in Christchurch, said the change in his personal fortunes was probably down to self-belief.

"I think as a shooter, it's a confidence thing, and maybe at the beginning of the season I was lacking a little bit of confidence," he said.

"As the season has gone on, I've felt a little more comfortable, especially in Wellington. Then, in the last match I felt really good and the ball was dropping through the hoop."

Not only has the victory over Cairns boosted Jones' morale, it has done the same for a team in their first season in the league.

"The games before then, we were right there, but we just couldn't get over that little hump," he said.

"Against the Taipans, we managed to come out with a win, which has given the guys a lot of confidence."

The Breakers, 10th in the 12-team league, will need to be at their best when they tackle Brisbane.

Wooden-spooners last year, the Bullets are in hot form and sit second on the table behind the the Sydney Kings - the unbeaten defending champions.

Led by imported American forwards Kevin Freeman and Bobby Brannen, they have six victories from eight matches and are on a four-game winning streak.

They kept the run going on Saturday night when they stormed back from a 13-point third-quarter deficit at Wollongong to stun the Hawks 99-84.

Jones said the Bullets were typical of all the sides the Breakers had met so far in the league - "solid and tough."

He said the Bullets were not the biggest team in terms of size. "But they rebound well, they play great defence and at present they're shooting the ball very well, too.

"They're playing very well as a unit and we have to try to shut them down. It's going to be a tough test for us."

- NZPA