KEY POINTS:
"What do you want me for, this place is all about Kirk isn't it?" quipped veteran Tony Ronaldson as he turned up for the press conference after the Breakers' home win against eventual champions Melbourne Tigers.
There was no hint of bitterness from the player known as Bear, it was more a gentle swipe at the star status of teammate Kirk Penney and his regular match-winning, headline-grabbing performances.
It was, after all, Ronaldson's 600th NBL appearance, so he knew exactly why he was wanted.
But, like most jokes, there was an element of truth in the one-liner. Much of last season's turnaround from a team that pretty much made up the numbers in the league to a playoff contender was down to Penney.
The addition of Ronaldson's experience and the return of the sharp-shooting Phill Jones were also key factors, but Penney was the star turn.
But with the club having recruited CJ Bruton, the league's premier point guard, this season certainly won't be all about Kirk.
With his all-court game, consistent scoring and ability to hit the big shots when it matters, Penney will still be the team's heartbeat. But Bruton will be its leader.
The son of NBL hall of famer Cal Bruton, CJ Bruton is Australian basketball royalty.
He has three league championships to his name, with defunct superpowers Sydney Kings and Brisbane Bullets, has played in three Olympics, and co-captained the Boomers with Ronaldson to Commonwealth Games gold in 2006.
Always a scoring threat, particularly from three-point range where he has a career success rate of 40 per cent, Bruton believes he has taken his game to a new level in recent years.
At 32, he feels he is now in his prime. His vision has improved, his leadership skills are more finely tuned.
"I was 28 was when I started to blossom," he says.
"Now I look at it like a quarterback in the NFL. I see the floor better. I can call different reads and see a mismatch that I can go to. And all the different coaches I've had have shown me different ways of handling squads, encouraging players who are down."
On the small side in a game dominated by giants, the 1.88m, 88kg Bruton exudes a calm confidence.
He is comfortable talking about his abilities, clearly not suffering from any lack of confidence.
His impact in the club's final two pre-season games was limited but Bruton is still learning his new team's playbook and is not yet fully recovered from the Boomers' arduous Olympic campaign, where he led the team in steals, assists and free-throw percentage.
"I've got a couple of niggling injuries that right now I have got to manage but I don't think I have been fully healthy since I was 17," he says.
"All the titles I have won, I've had something going on. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I know how to handle pain, to get through and still know that I can can give my team something to help us win."
And winning is important to Bruton. When it became clear the now-defunct Brisbane Bullets would no longer be the force they once were following the decision of former owner Eddy Groves to sell up, Bruton made it clear he wanted out.
The Bullets' prospective new owners wanted him to remain as the centrepiece of a rebuilding project but when he heard key teammates Sam Mackinnon, Ebi Ere, Dillon Boucher and Dusty Rychart were unlikely to be retained, he made up his mind to leave.
"I just said: 'If you are not going to keep these guys then I really don't want to be part of it. But I wish you all the best'."
The Breakers swooped, snaring Bruton and Boucher but, with the Bullets' new owners insisting Bruton not play for another NBL franchise, things got ugly.
The upshot was a fine for the Breakers for making an illegal approach and a delay of several weeks before the transfers were completed. Bruton, who had been assured by Groves he could leave on his own terms, was less-than-impressed.
"When [the new owners] put out their release I said: 'You can write whatever you want to write, it's not going to make a difference. I am going to go wherever I want to go'.
"At that time they still didn't even own the team. So for them to kick up [a fuss] about it ... Own the team, then you can say whatever you want."
With the Breakers' first five games at home, Bruton sees a fast start as vital to his new team's chances. Three wins from the five games would be the minimum.
But with title favourites Melbourne Tigers and strong contenders Adelaide and Cairns among the teams to visit Auckland over that stretch, the Breakers' new play caller knows he will have to get up to speed fast.
"It's coming along. It's not 100 per cent but hopefully it's better than [coach Andrej Lemanis] expected at this point. I know a lot of stuff, but I don't know everything.
"There's been a couple of times I've watched [import centre Rick Rickert] run in the wrong direction and then the next play I've run in the wrong direction. I said: 'Between the two of us Rick we have got to get this down pat'."
With Bruton's pedigree, it will be a major surprise if they haven't got it down pat by the time the first game tips off against Wollongong on Thursday night.
