Basketball: Breakers could use a break

Tom Abercrombie and others have had heavy workloads. Photo / Richard Robinson

The Breakers might have won their first ANBL title more than four months ago but already they are wary of tiredness becoming an issue just three weeks out from the season's start.

The North Shore outfit played their first pre-season game last night against the Wollongong Hawks in Hamilton but Tom Abercrombie and Mika Vukona were not sighted on court and Alex Pledger was given limited playing time.

Like most of their teammates, the trio went straight into playing the New Zealand NBL after the Breakers beat Cairns to become the first New Zealand side to claim a professional Australian title and then spent six weeks on the road with the Tall Blacks.

The three-game Olympic qualifying series with Australia ended on Sunday in Sydney and Abercrombie, in particular, looked as if he was suffering from playing too much basketball.

Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis said something had to be done to limit the load on New Zealand's top players and the domestic league was the most likely to suffer.

"Tiredness is certainly a concern," he said. "Guys like Mika, Tommy and Pledge have had heavy workloads so we will be smart with how we bring them back in.

"We will freshen them up from a mental point of view more than the physical and that's something as a club we need to work [on] with Basketball New Zealand to look at how best we can manage the players throughout a season.

"At the moment there are three different groups pulling at them from all different directions.

"For the good of basketball in this country, we need to do a better job of working together and coming up with a plan so they can be delivered fresh at the right times of the year.

"Players need to be fresh to play internationally and when they come into our environment so I think the one that suffers, in my mind, is the New Zealand basketball season.

"Whether that needs to move or guys miss a little bit of that so they can get some down time ... they can't play 12 months of the year."

They will need to play soon, however. After two games against the Hawks - the second is in Tauranga tomorrow - they head to Queensland to play in the ANBL's pre-season tournament. The Breakers play their first four league games on the road, starting against the Blaze on the Gold Coast on October 7.

Lemanis emphasised he looked at his squad as a new team so would not talk about defending their title.

"Last year was last year," he said. "This is a new team that needs to create its own identity. We will go about trying to win this year's championship and not worry about defending what happened last year."

There are several new faces after the departures of Kirk Penney (gone to Spain), Paul Henare (retired), Kevin Braswell (released) and Corey Webster (suspended). Penney, a former league MVP, leaves the biggest hole, although Henare's leadership will be missed too.

In their place have come Cedric Jackson, Daryl Corletto, Leon Henry and Jarrod Kenny.

Most interest will settle on Jackson, who had brief spells in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards. The 25-year-old guard is known more as a distributor and dribbler than a heavy scorer but there are expectations his speed will see the Breakers play a more up-tempo game this season.

"There's a unique speed there," Lemanis said. "He's got a gear that is pretty impressive that enables him to get past people and get to the ring and be creative. So far he's shown a willingness to distribute the basketball and get looks for his teammates. We expect him to be able to get in the lane, create, run a team and provide for the offence that way."

They have also picked up Corletto on a one-year deal in the past few days after Webster's suspension for a second failed drugs test. The 30-year-old shooting guard has won ANBL titles with Melbourne in 2005/06 and 2007/08. APNZ