Basketball: Road trip big test of Breakers' resolve

Tom Abercrombie. Photo / Getty Images

A run of six games which begins tonight against hotshots Cairns Taipans on the North Shore and ends against the same opponent at the same venue on January 13 will provide a stern test of the Breakers' ANBL title credentials.

Pass and they will be in prime position to make a serious tilt at becoming the first New Zealand team to win an Australian club title heading into a second half of the season in which nine of their 14 matches are at home.

But before that favourable run the Breakers must negotiate a match against a Taipans side that has won five straight - including back-to-back victories over contenders Perth and Wollongong - followed by four tough road matches over the Christmas/New Year period.

Tonight's match against Phill Jones' Taipans is the last time the Breakers will set foot on home pine for over a month. After that, they play a pre-Christmas double-header against Wollongong and Melbourne, followed by a New Year's Eve trip to Townsville and then to Adelaide on January 8.

Having started the season 7-2, even a split of those matches would set up the Breakers nicely.

"We've been playing good basketball on the road, so, hopefully, we can carry on that momentum," said swingman Tom Abercrombie.

"If we can get through that period and then have that good run coming home it will put us in good shape."

The holiday period, however, hasn't always been kind to the Breakers. Last season between December 3-January 14 they compiled a miserable 2-6 record that ultimately proved fatal to their playoff ambitions. If anything, this season's run of fixtures looks significantly more challenging.

Certainly Cairns come to town full of confidence after line-in-the-sand victories over Perth and pace-pacesetters Wollongong.

"They are playing really good basketball," Abercrombie said. "Their point guard [Ayinde] Ubaka is playing really well. He runs stuff for their team in the same way that [Gary] Ervin does for Wollongong. He pushes the ball really well to open teammates and creates a lot.

"He'll be a priority to try to stop but they have a lot of good role players and weapons around him that makes them really tough."

One of those deadly role players is former Tall Blacks and Breakers sharpshooter Jones. Keeping Jones quiet was also near the top of the to-do list, Abercrombie said.

"You've got to take away his threes, that's how he gets going. We've got to make him do something different, make him put the ball on the floor.

"He is one weapon out there but he works well for that team because he is not the main man. If you forget about him he will really hurt you."

News that he is being tracked by scouts from NBA club Houston Rockets doesn't appear to have fazed Abercrombie, who insists his immediate future lies with the Breakers.

"At the end of the season whatever stuff comes up will happen. Nothing is going to happen before then. I have just got to focus on this team and help us get wins."

ROAD BREAKERS

Breakers next five matches

* v Cairns (h), tonight.

* v Wollongong (a), December 17.

* v Melbourne (a), December 18.

* v Townsville (a), December 31.

* v Adelaide (a), January 8.