Basketball: New recruit promises to be on guard

Cedric Jackson. Photo / Joel Ford

New Breakers point guard Cedric Jackson is pledging to learn from his introduction to the idiosyncrasies of refereeing in the ANBL.

Jackson was slapped with a technical foul for backchatting a referee with just seconds remaining in the Breakers' nailbiting loss to the Tigers in Melbourne last Saturday.

The American was upset at the lack of a foul call as he drove to the basket trying to tie the scores. When he was called for the foul in the scramble for the rebound he reacted angrily and was slapped with the technical, a decision that all but handed the match to the Tigers.

Jackson admitted he had been warned by his coaches about the uneven nature of the refereeing in the league but it was the first time in a stellar collegiate and fledgling pro career he had seen a game decided on a technical foul for backchat.

"Never seen it but, you know, I took the blame for that," he said. "I apologised to the guys because that set us back even though we still had the opportunity to take it into overtime.

"The coaches sat me down and talked about the officiating and how things are over here with the rivalry between New Zealand and Australia. I definitely got a bit of a taste of it. But I really don't say anything about referees, I just let it be."

Coach Andrej Lemanis was also reluctant to discuss the call that handed his side a first loss after three highly encouraging road victories.

"You watched the game and you'll make your own decisions," Lemanis said. "It is one of those things where if we had played a little better we perhaps wouldn't have been in that situation where a call can affect the outcome of a game."

Recruited to replace the injured Kevin Braswell, Jackson has been a big part of the impressive start to the Breakers' title defence.

At just 25 he is only recently removed from an extended flirtation with the NBA. And while he lacks the cocky Braswell's off-court swagger, he has definitely lived up to expectations on it.

"He is still finding out about the league and his teammates and we are still finding out about him and how best he can contribute to the team," Lemanis said. "But he's a fantastic passer and has shown that he can dish off and if teams play him for the dish he has shown that he can score."

The 28 points he racked up against the Hawks in his second game were certainly encouraging, but Jackson wasn't recruited to fill the scoring void left by Kirk Penney's departure.

"What we liked about Cedric was that everywhere he has been he has had very good assist numbers, which means he plays as part of the team," Lemanis said. "The other thing Cedric does is play defence."

Auckland may seem a strange destination for a player who still harbours big time ambitions, but Jackson said he was sold on the club shortly into his first telephone conversation with Lemanis.

"I just felt like his philosophy of the game and what he likes works perfectly for me," he said.

That the Breakers were reigning champions was also a big factor.

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