Chris Rattue: It's showtime, so hold on to your seats

COMMENT

Basketball. Your country needs you.

We found that out last night as the Breakers won a thriller in front of a raucous, frenzied crowd of 3300 on the North Shore.

It was a brilliant opening to NBL basketball in this country, as the Breakers won the cliffhanger against Adelaide.

We've got plenty of shy when it comes to sport. What we need is some showtime, and if Jeff Green can't bring it to us, then maybe no one can.

The Breakers' founding father and coach was up to his usual tricks last night, pointing, yelling, arguing with officials, eyes bulging.

As the injured Pero Cameron paced around like an expectant father, Green was out front, playing the mad uncle.

The opener happened exactly where Green once claimed NBL basketball shouldn't take place, in apathetic Auckland.

Those comments were just another chapter in the volatile career of a sporting showman and headline hunter.

There's even a media sweep on when Green will first get ejected in a game. It probably won't be long.

You sense some arguments with the people who run the game are just a breath away. When Green is about, there is danger in the air. You can just smell it.

It's a sport ready made for such larger-than-life people, living on their nerve ends, with a crowd in a similar state just an arm's length away. Basketball can be an exhilarating ride, as it was last night.

Unlike some sports, it's definitely best viewed live. You are close enough to almost sense the different characters involved, and the Breakers have got some likely ones in Dillon Boucher and Co.

It's also a place where a mascot won't get lost in the crowd. The Breakers' contribution to this field of sporting endeavour looks like a cross between Whoopi Goldberg and a parakeet.

As for the Breakers' cheer squad - there have been occasions in this country where you seriously wondered if the girls were up past their bedtime, and that was for afternoon games. This isn't the case with the Breaker girls. Enough about that.

So get in our faces, Breakers.

Rugby and cricket are such a serious business, league is played by a load of quiet blokes (these days), our netballers are so nice.

We need the thrill of a dangerous ride. And the great news last night was that the Breakers got the points.

I remember waiting forever to talk to Dean Bell after the Warriors lost their opener against Brisbane in 1995. He was battered, as usual, and disconsolate in an abandoned dressing room. I suggested it had been a great occasion.

"Lost points," Bell said. "We might regret that in the end."

They did.