Basketball: Breakers respect but don't fear Kings - Lemanis

The Breakers are bracing for a more searching test of their credentials at the North Shore Events Centre tonight when they square off against Aussie NBL glamour side, the Sydney Kings.

Safely out of the stalls last week after a first-up win over expansion team South Melbourne, the Breakers will tonight take on a side not only brimming with talent, but with far more game-time under their belt.

Included in the Kings roster are five of the 10-man Australian squad who competed at the recent World Championships in Japan, and a couple of imports who seem to be making all the difference.

As if that's not enough of a challenge, the Kings have already played four games opposed to the Breakers' single outing, recovering from an opening night loss in Townsville to string together wins over Brisbane, Adelaide and the Dragons.

They take the court tonight having destroyed South Melbourne during the final quarter of their most recent game, romping to a 109-83 win on the back of their best team effort of the season.

Skipper Jason Smith ended with a game-high 24 points but the most pleasing aspect for the Kings would have been the appearance of nine players on the score-sheet for the third time this season.

They achieved a similar points-spread against the Bullets in their first home game and repeated the feat in the second round showdown against the 36ers, despite forward Mark Worthington hogging 34 points.

"It's the first line-up I've ever been on where you're not really relying on two or three main guys to get your point production," said Smith after the Dragons' win.

"It's complete equal opportunity as far as offence goes so it creates a real big problem for teams to defend us."

Sydney coach Brian Goorjian added that the influence of new US forward Rodney Elliot, who chimed in with 21 points last week after scoring heavily against the Crocs and the Bullets, was important to his side.

"The key for us was - like late in the game against Adelaide and second half against Brisbane - we're starting to show signs of defence," he told website nbl.com.

"But another huge thing for us is Rodney Elliott. We definitely needed some help with the group we had and I think he is."

Breakers' coach Andrej Lemanis yesterday agreed that the Kings' line-up was one of the more impressive going around, but said he was reasonably satisfied with his side's preparation and believed they could win.

The Breakers only win of the pre-season was a 96-93 win over the Kings.

"Put together five Boomers and two imports and that's obviously the nucleus of a stunning team," said Lemanis.

"Factor in the influence of Goorjian, who always prepares his teams well, and you can see we have a challenge on our hands.

"But I'm really confident about where the Breakers are at and feel confident about playing any side. The Kings are a team to be respected, not feared."

Lemanis said while it wasn't ideal for his side to have played just one game against the Kings' four, he wasn't losing any sleep over the issue.

"In the heat of the battle they're a little further advanced, but we have had a productive time since our opening game and I'm impressed with the developing team work and chemistry in our roster."

Breakers v Kings

North Shore Events Centre, 7.15pm tonight

The lineups

New Zealand Breakers: Paul Henare, Aaron Olson, Brian Wethers, Ricardo Powell, Ben Pepper, Oscar Forman, Mika Vukona, Tim Behrendorff, Adam Darragh, Brent Charleton

Sydney Kings: EJ Rowland, Jason Smith, David Barlow, Mark Worthington, Ian Crosswhite, Russell Hinder, Luke Kendall, Brad Sheridan, Cameron Tovey, BJ Carter, Anthony Susnjara

Watch out for

Last season's player of the year, Ben Pepper, requires 10 rebounds to extend his Breakers record to 700 and 20 to push his career tally out to 2400.

Skipper Paul Henare, in his 99th consecutive game for the club, requires just two assists to reach 400 and a solitary rebound to top 300.

Back-up point guard Adam Darragh requires just one assist to top 100 in this his 85th NBL game.