Basketball: A giant game in a compact frame

It's not easy finding a high point in a season starting 0-4 and looking depressingly familiar to the one before... and the one before that.

But if the Breakers are searching for inspiration for their first win of the season at home to the Hunter Pirates today, then they need look no further than their 1.97m small forward who plays like a 2.10m power forward.

Mika Vukona, a Breakers development player last year who has moved on to the full-time roster, has come on in leaps and bounds this year because of his ability to leap, bound and get rebounds that, by rights, should belong to someone taller.

Tall Blacks coach Tab Baldwin and Breakers boss Andrej Lemanis have almost mimmicked their praise for a guy they have both described as a "power forward trapped in a small forward's body".

The 23-year-old has a simple explanation as to how he's squeezed a big game into a small frame.

"It's what I've done since I started playing," he said. "I never had a shot when I was younger and the only way I could play was down low and rough."

Vukona is far from a pure shooter but he doesn't throw it stone cold like a Dillon Boucher. He's worked intensively with former sharp-shooter Nenad Vucinic to become a credible threat from the 12-15 foot range.

Vukona came of age in Brisbane last week, scoring 15 points and securing 13 boards as the Breakers started to show promising signs against NBL favourites, the Bullets.

"I'm pretty happy with how things are going so far," Vukona said. "My goal going into this year was pretty much just to establish myself in the league and prove to myself that I could play in it.

"I set goals and one of those has been met so now I want to do it on a consistent basis."

Vukona said confidence was still high despite the 0-4 record and the team was enjoying the high-tempo offence Lemanis has introduced. Still, a win is desperately needed to keep the hounds at bay.

The Hunter Pirates are no pushovers, either. They rebounded from an awful 2003 season to make the playoffs last year.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY