Breakers upbeat ahead of Kings clash on Friday

There was a spring in the step at SKYCITY Breakers practice today as the team got back on the floor in preparation for their second game of the ANBL season, at home on Friday at Spark Arena against the Sydney Kings.

Head Coach Paul Henare says the team has been through a thorough debrief after Sundays disappointing start against the Taipans, and has identified key areas to improve upon on Friday night.

"I thought there were good things to take out of the game and things to work on. The scoreboard showed 71 points for us though, and you are going to struggle to win games on the back of that level of scoring, there are a lot of areas of improvement for us there.

"Early on especially there were some first game jitters, anxiety and excitement that led to turnovers and in the second half we just have to finish plays, we missed layups, had some good open looks that we need to knock down, especially against a team like Cairns you have to keep the scoreboard ticking over."

Henare has no doubt his team will be all the better having one game under their belts.

"I think you can have all the preseason you like, but until you turn the lights on, turn the cameras on and have that real game experience you dont get that intensity that players like Edgar and DJ need after a long break, but I think we will all be better for it."

Henare says Sydney are a very different proposition to Cairns, with their own style of game and their fair share of stars to keep quiet.

"Sydney has shown a little bit of small ball in the preseason, with Ellis at the five and Blanchfield at the four so that is something we have to deal with. They have a great guard line with Lisch, Leslie, Cadee and Newley coming in so they create challenges with those match ups. They are a talented side on the back of a loss on their home floor as well so it will be two teams hungry to turn those results around."

Henare says those scoring issues can easily be fixed and expects better output on Friday.

"We need better bench production, that has been great in the preseason, but those numbers were down. Kirk was hit with a stomach bug that didnt help but overall improved execution and finishing plays will result in more points on the board for us on Friday."

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Basketball New Zealand