KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand Breakers are bracing for a battle against opponents running on plenty of emotion when they return to Australian National Basketball League action tomorrow night.
After a two-week hiatus, the high flying Breakers host the financially embattled Sydney Spirit in Auckland - the first meeting between the clubs.
Shooting guard Kirk Penney is wary of the galvanising effect of Sydney's off-court dramas.
He noted that the Spirit went out and upset current competition leaders South Dragons after being placed in administration last month.
"Let's look at the adversity they've been through," he said.
"They responded by beating the Dragons and they've won four of their last five. They are a team that rides on emotion and they play with a lot of energy, and they're going to be tough."
The Spirits' money problems have led to the departure of import Derek Low, centre Julian Khazzouh and guard/forward Liam Rush.
Those losses have been partly offset by the signing this week of centre Blagoj Janev from the Singapore Slingers.
Penney was expecting the Spirit to bring plenty of intensity on to the court and the Breakers would need to match that.
"They really push the ball," he said.
"They'll shoot early shots and they knock them down. We want to play at our tempo, but we can run with any team."
Both teams head into the contest on the back of a loss, the Breakers going down to Townsville at home to end a six-match winning streak and drop from top of the table to second.
The break since then has allowed Penney time to recover from ankle and thumb injuries.
The thumb problem meant the league's leading scorer went through successive matches against Perth and Gold Coast late last month with just single-digit hauls.
For Penney, the fact that the Breakers won on both occasions, with the likes of Oscar Foreman, Tony Ronaldson, Phill Jones and CJ Bruton keeping the score ticking over, was a good sign for the club.
"On any given night, you know that Ozzie can get hot, Tony can play great, Phill can load it up, CJ can put on a show, and that's the team you want to play on," he said.
"We're definitely not dependent on one or two guys."
Penney regained his scoring touch against Townsville with 26 points to take his tally for the campaign to 412 and a game average of 24.2.
He was this week named the ANBL's player of the month for the second successive time, making him an early favourite to be chosen as the league's Most Valuable Player at the end of the season.
With the Breakers having a league-best 6-1 win-loss record in November, coach Andrej Lemanis made it a double for the club by taking out the coach of the month accolade.
Penney said his award was a reflection of the way those around him were playing.
"We had a really good month and they wanted to pin it on someone, but it could easily have been any number of the rest of the team," he said.
"The guys know that and I know that."
Penney described the acknowledgement of Lemanis' role in the Breakers' success as "cool" and much deserved.
- NZPA
