By Felicity Reid of RNZ
The New Zealand Breakers are embracing the underdog tag heading into the NBL season.
With 10 new faces and a new coaching staff, the latest Breakers are barely recognisable from the side that snuck into the top six last season.
Retained: Parker Jackson-Cartwright (import), Dane Pineau, Max Darling (moves from development player to full roster), Alex McNaught, Carlin Davison.
Newcomers: Freddie Gillespie (Crvena Zvezda Belgrade), Grant Anticevich (BG Gottingen), Jonah Bolden (Sydney Kings), Kaia Isaac (Canterbury Rams), Mitch McCarron (Adelaide 36ers), Mojave King (Indiana Mad Ants, NBA G-League), Sam Mennenga (Cairns Taipans), Sean Bairstow (VCU Rams), Matt Mooney (Dolomiti Energia Trentino), Karim Lopez (Joventut Badalona)
Those who left: Anthony Lamb, Cam Gliddon (retired), Dan Fotu, Dom Kelman-Poto, Finn Delany (mutual release), Izayah Le’Afa (Sydney Kings), Justinian Jessup (Ratiopharm Ulm, Germany), Mangok Mathiang (Maccabi Ramat Gan, Israel), Mantas Rubstavicius, Tom Abercrombie (retired), Will McDowell-White (Alba Berlin, Germany), Zylan Cheatham
Co-captains: Jackson-Cartwright and McCarron
Head coach: Petteri Koponen
After spending most of last season outside playoff contention, the Breakers just made the postseason under a new playoff system that included the top six sides in the 10-team competition.
The Breakers won the play-in qualifier against Sydney Kings but lost the play-in game to Illawarra Hawks, meaning the Auckland-based club couldn’t make it to the grand finals series as they had the previous season.
The Breakers tip off the NBL season on the road against the Brisbane Bullets in Perth on Saturday.
All 10 NBL teams will open the season in Western Australia as part of an initiative called HoopsFest. The showcase includes NBL and WNBL games as well as an under-18 club championship.
The introduction of HoopsFest means there will be one extra regular-season game this season, with 29 games played over six months from September to February.
From Perth, the Breakers return to Auckland for their first home game against SEM Phoenix at Spark Arena on September 29.
In a busy October, the Breakers take a two-week break from the NBL at the start of the month to head to America for three NBA games against the Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
On returning to the NBL, the club will have a double-header round with a Thursday game in Brisbane followed by a Saturday game in Auckland.
The Breakers’ road trip then heads to the South Island for the first of three games in Christchurch throughout the season when they play the Phoenix at Wolfbrook Arena on October 24.
A long-awaited return to Wellington for their first game in the capital since 2019 happens on December 7 against the Sydney Kings.
The traditional Taranaki fixture is also in the schedule with a return to New Plymouth on January 13 against Melbourne United.
There are eight games in total at Spark Arena in NBL25.
The Breakers went through pre-season winless and will be a player down for their opening game after American import Freddie Gillespie copped a one-match ban for a headbutt on veteran NBL player Shaun Bruce of the Sydney Kings during pre-season.
These factors all contribute to the Breakers starting the season on the back foot.
Last season, they were tipped to challenge for the championship but fell short. This season the unknown of a new head coach, who is untested in the NBL, and a young roster of players who have had only a few weeks playing together means pundits were cooler on the Breakers’ chances of winning more silverware.
They are the only NBL team making the NBA stateside trip this season and a heavy workload could impact their early-season results.
Parker Jackson-Cartwright will again be central to the team’s success, not only for his output but his leadership. The American guard was recognised as one of the competition’s best last season and stood up in the big moments.
Import Matt Mooney will partner Jackson-Cartwright in the backcourt and is said to be a tough competitor. The Texas Tech graduate is a capable scorer and good ball handler, which should suit the new coach’s style.
Gillespie has had a shaky start but wants to develop his game while he is in the NBL. The 208cm American with a 226cm wingspan has the length and athleticism to cause opposition teams problems as a defender and it’s at the opposite end of the floor where he wants to improve his offensive output.
Seventeen-year-old Mexican Next Star Karim Lopez has a two-year contract with the Breakers and has a good junior pedigree after averaging over 20 points a game in the FIBA U16 Americas but this season will be seen as an opportunity to learn and grow his game against men who have been professionals for a lot longer.
Australian Mitch McCarron, a 245-NBL-game veteran, is a versatile guard who will bring the experience that the Breakers will need when the going gets tough.
The Sydney Kings are considered title contenders again after last winning the championship by defeating the Breakers in the 2022-23 season. The Kings have a new coach in Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian and eight new players, including the return of former MVP Xavier Cooks.
The defending champion Tasmania JackJumpers and perennial finalists Perth Wildcats are among the teams with the least amount of player movement from last season and are both expected to feature in the playoffs again.
Melbourne United, who have more New Zealand players on their books than the Breakers, should finish near the top of the ladder with the amount of experience they have on their roster.
The Illawarra Hawks have kept coach Justin Tatum after he took over partway through last season. They have also kept the core of their roster and have the potential to sneak into the finals again.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who want to improve and take that next step. I think the main goal for our team this season is just to be competitive and have that underdog mentality from day one. We don’t have the crazy talent like the other teams – we have to do things together well offensively, defensively if we want to compete.” – Coach Petteri Koponen
“There’s two sides to that coin: one, I think we improved from the first game to the last game as the competitor in me and the competitor in coach and in our whole team we wanted to win more games. The good news is that we’re still zero-zero.” – Freddie Gillespie on a winless pre-season
“The margin for error is very small in this league. You can look up and be in December and the teams are very locked in closely in the standings – you’re only separated by a game, a few points or whatever it may be – so every game matters, every play is very important and you have to practise and prepare yourself.” – Second season Breaker Parker Jackson-Cartwright.
