Basketball: Player-of-month Chappell leads Breakers' charge

New Zealand Breakers import Mike Chappell has been named the Australian NBL player of the month.

It came just days after he received his first recognition for sparking the new franchise's unlikely revival.

Chappell was named the round-18 player of the week on Monday and the high-scoring swingman received further endorsement yesterday from rival coaches and media.

The American received 39 votes, edging out Sydney Kings' captain Matthew Neilsen, who had 37.

Over the Breakers' seven games in January, Chappell averaged 24.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

He made a remarkable 27-of-56 three-pointers in that period at a 48 per cent success rate.

His form has coincided with the Breakers' four-match winning streak which has kept alive their faint hopes of making next month's top-eight playoffs.

West Sydney Razorbacks coach Gordon McLeod was named coach of the month by a massive margin from the Breakers' Frank Arsego.

McLeod, who guided the Razorbacks to five consecutive wins last month, received 62 votes, 36 more than Arsego.

The Breakers headed to Australia yesterday looking to continue their good run.

With four games remaining, they sit ninth on the table, one place shy of a finals berth.

They meet bottom-placed Hunter Pirates in Newcastle tonight.

The Breakers have won both of the clashes between the new franchises this season, 110-100 at home late last month and 104-101 away in early December.

Frank Arsego acknowledged that his side had raised hopes of making the playoffs with their 87-69 win over the Victoria Giants at the North Shore Events Centre on Wednesday.

But he wanted his players to focus on what he expected would be a tough assignment against the Pirates.

"Our time with the Giants has finished and it's time to move on to the next opponents," he said.

"I think Hunter will be well primed for us. We'll need to bring one of our best games along to get the win."

Arsego also admitted that the Breakers' recent burst of good results brought its own pressure, as making the finals started to become more of a possibility.

Dillon Boucher returns to the roster after his two-match suspension for striking an opponent in last week's win over Perth.

The Pirates' standout player in the past month has been centre Geordie Cullen, who averages 18.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

New Zealand Breakers: Pero Cameron (capt), Paul Henare, Lindsay Tait, Phill Jones, Aaron Olson, Paora Winitana, Dillon Boucher, Mike Chappell, Blake Truslove, Iona Enosa.

Hunter Pirates: Allen McCowan, Geordie Cullen, Miles Pearce, Tim Hudson, Peter Barnett, Chris Harriman, Matt Shanahan, Josh Morgan, Chris Brown, Travis Lindstrom, Kevin Brooks, Michael Kingma.

- NZPA