Basketball: Breakers ready to bounce back

Ekene Ibekwe of the Breakers. Photo / Getty Images

The Breakers are hoping lessons from the last two losses will help them get back to winning ways against Wollongong today.

After beating both of last year's finalists in their opening two fixtures, the Breakers have slumped to a 2-2 record with defeats against Melbourne and an outstanding Cairns outfit on Thursday.

But coach Dean Vickerman believes his side can sift through those setbacks, take away positives and cast aside the rest ahead of this afternoon's game.

For starters, last weekend's loss to Melbourne was the first time this season the Breakers had to back up overseas after a home game earlier in the round. With the ANBL season condensed by one month, it will become a more familiar scenario.

The Breakers eschewed a serious hit-out last week, with just two days between games, but they feel that decision might have contributed to a listless performance.

"We need at least one good practice session between games," Vickerman said. "The change in the schedule means you've got to find quick-hit sessions this year. We missed one of those last week but we'll make sure we get one before we [play Wollongong]."

The Breakers will also be boosted by a lineup adjustment against Cairns that made the most of their big men, with Alex Pledger starting and Ekene Ibekwe coming off the bench. It's not necessarily permanent - Pledger's health troubles prevent that - but it enabled a foul-prone Ibekwe to avoid the referees' ire and return 15 points and five rebounds.

"We just needed to see whether Alex was going to be better to start or not to start," Vickerman said. "It's something that we'll keep looking at, but [Ibekwe] got himself out of foul trouble and was able to close out the game."