KEY POINTS:
Injured Breakers point guard CJ Bruton admits he is not good at sitting on the bench during a game.
"I don't handle it very well. But I am very positive about it and I can contribute by being very vocal on the bench," he said after training today.
The 33-year-old native of Wichita, Kansas, ran reasonably comfortably at the Breakers' home gym on Auckland's North Shore after damaging the ligaments in both ankles.
However, he was not confident he would be on court on Saturday for the Breakers' top-of-the-table match against the South Dragons in Melbourne on Saturday night.
"I am back on the court, which is a positive, but it still doesn't feel strong enough to be a full threat out there on a consistent basis," he said.
Bruton was due to have another session with a physiotherapist before the team fly to Melbourne in their bid to return to the top of the table in the Australian National Basketball League (ANBL).
He is likely to be replaced by Breakers veteran Paul Henare.
The Dragons knocked the Breakers off the top of the table after the Breakers' back-to-back losses last weekend to the Wollongong Hawks and the Sydney Spirit.
Both were played without Bruton, who said he was busting to get on court for such a big game but did not want to do more damage, mainly to his left ankle ligaments.
"It is one of those things you never want to miss - the opportunity to challenge a great team - but it is also a top of the table clash.
"So everything is at stake but one game doesn't make a season so I want to be right when it comes close to the end of the season.
"At the moment I can get up and down but how effective I am will determine if I can go or not."
The Breakers are not favourites to win with ANBL tipsters giving the game to the Dragons by eight points.
The prediction meant little to Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis.
"We don't care too much what other people think. We will worry about ourselves."
He said since the team's double-header loss last weekend they had been concentrating on getting back to perfecting the things they could control.
"That puts you in a better place mentally," he said.
- NZPA
