Breakers coach Mody Maor has led the team to a rare NBL finals appearance this season. Photo / Getty
Mody Maor was a kid in Los Angeles when the city idolised basketball legend Magic Johnson.
Now Maor is sprinkling a little magic dust of his own as the first-year head coach of the born-again Breakers, who play an NBL semifinal at Spark Arena on Sunday evening.
It has been an incredible rise based around Maor’s tough defensive demands, after the team had to camp in Australia during Covid and seemed to fall apart.
The 37-year-old talks about recruitment techniques, how five years in the Israeli military influenced him, gives the inside word on his imports, reveals the family miracle he and his wife Liat experienced soon after arriving in Auckland, and more.
How important is home advantage in the semifinal?
Finishing second means we didn’t play on Thursday, which is more important than home advantage. Our opponent had to play, we got to practice.
Your import recruitments appear spot on - what is the magic formula?
Firstly, there’s a bit of luck involved, like a first date with a girl…you don’t really know until the fifth date, or the eighth date.
From a process standpoint, there are boxes that need to be ticked. There has to be a genuine love for the game.
I try to recruit people with something to prove. And I try to shoot very straight in the recruiting process, and not get enamoured with talent.
I put forward what the bad days look like…six hours in the gym with me being aggressive and abrasive towards you for every mistake and you not feeling the best physically, and me not letting you feel your best mentally.
What responses do you look for to those sorts of statements?
The best response is a question, to show they are processing the information. For instance one of the questions Barry Brown Jr asked was ‘when you are aggressive do you curse?’ I said yes and his reaction was “I need that sometimes”. I look for that level of engagement in the conversation.
What was your playing background?
Very bad…I was okay, the equivalent of an NZBL player. At 18 in Israel you go to the army unless you are an elite player. I was never close to elite, so that was the end of playing for me.
If you weren’t a basketball coach…
I was going to be a doctor for a little bit, then a teacher, then basketball took over.
What influence did five years in the Israeli military have… what did that service involve?
I prefer not to talk about the military experiences but the army is a significant part of who I am. Three years is mandatory, and I went to officer training and became an Air Force 1st lieutenant.
I was a very lackadaisical kid, got into trouble, skirted around the edges. The military was my first experience in a high-performance environment, a place where you have to be great at what you do.
The stakes are high. There’s a demand for excellence and detail, from how you shine your shoes to preparing for missions. Being an officer is a lot like coaching….you need to bring them together as a group, to care for each other, and perform when the stakes are highest. There were also tactical and strategic decisions which I love.
Did you have a childhood hero?
I was born in ‘85 in Los Angeles, when you had to be a Lakers fan. Magic Johnson was my favourite player, a kid’s infatuation rather than a knowledgeable understanding of the game.
I was nine when we left. I came to Israel as a Lakers and basketball fan, my only sport.
As a child of the Magic era, who is the greatest of all time?
You can say LeBron James has had the greatest career, of sustained excellence over such a period of time.
Best player? Michael Jordan for me. It does come down to winning championships - I don’t think he will ever be overshadowed as the best player. Without him, I don’t think LeBron has the reach he’s had. Michael Jordan was the catalyst for this very global game.
What is this global game’s potential in New Zealand?
I know the numbers, from basketball and rugby people. This is the highest participation sport for the younger ages in New Zealand. That’s amazing.
My encounters are filled with extremely passionate people, from players like Finn Delany who love the game as much as I do, to youth coaches, and people around the game.
I’m not an expert on New Zealand or judging it…for us to win we need good New Zealand players so how can we contribute to that?
It comes down to funds and facilities. I would like to see the coaches who work with youth get paid so this can be their job, so this coaching is not only available in private schools.
Back to this season - can you give us a quick sketch of your three terrific imports?
We are bringing in players with something to prove whereas in the past the Breakers brought in more finished products.
I’ll start with Jarrell Brantley…you need your best players to exemplify the traits you want your team to have. Jarrell is a team-first person, with contagious energy. He is a huge focal point from a tactical standpoint. Dererk Pardon was recruited into a specific role - we are a heavy pick and roll-based team. That centre position is critical on defence the way the game is played nowadays. He’s a completely selfless person.
Barry Brown Jr is a bit different - he does more things that are purely based on skill. The challenge was building that into a team structure…we are a very organised team with only a small amount of randomness compared to other NBL teams.
Do you worry about whether these guys will come back?
I had no intention of any of these imports staying another year - I believed we could get the best version out of them which should lead them to bigger places.
Cedric “The Entertainer” Jackson stayed for many years because being good in the NBL back then didn’t give you other opportunities.
If we find a diamond in the rough nowadays and maximise his potential, his value is going to go up.
At the end of the day it’s a business…Barry Brown could get five times what we pay him in Europe. Jarrell was a borderline NBA player and has proved this year his three-point shot is consistent. I want them to go but they do have a strong connection here. We shall see.
You arrived here as a flamboyant sideline assistant to Dan Shamir…
I was different to what people were used to. But I think people get a perception and it sticks. Every time I raise my hands it seems to strengthen that perception. I came in the first season after the assistant coach resigned and the GM left had left so I felt it needed an injection of energy. During the Covid years the team needed a hug and a kiss. This current team needs something else.
You and your wife Liat have started a family here…
It took us a long time to conceive, it didn’t just happen to us. Liat is 39 now, and she felt we were pushing it when she was 33. So it has been a complicated thing and a strain on life at times.
We came here, took a B&B we couldn’t afford at Milford. Two months later…she came back one day with five pregnancy tests all positive.
The beautiful scenery at Milford Beach got us pregnant. I can’t explain it - we joke it was the sound of the waves that made the difference. There was definitely a change of pace here.
We looked through a Maori dictionary for a connection and named our daughter Amaia which means halo around the moon. Now we have a second daughter Ellianna, which is Hebrew for God has answered.
Former All Blacks captain Buck Shelford’s story influenced you…have you met him?
I’d love to. One of the most interesting things about the All Blacks is how instrumental player leadership is to a team’s success. Rugby was ahead of the curve.
This generation responds more to a joint style of leadership rather than authoritarian.
One of the biggest things you learn in the army is to make a lasting impact on your unit and soldiers, you need to invest in them as people.
But I still can talk to my players as aggressively as any old-style coach because they know I care about them.
We can’t talk about the Breakers without mentioning Tom Abercrombie…
He is our Shelford. The team comes first. Winning is hard and requires a lot. He lives all those things while at the same time being very good at playing and extremely eloquent.
He suffered a terrifying eye injury at the beginning of the season and went through this ordeal, the third year in a row he had a significant, weird injury.
He never wavered. There was this relentless, no excuse, never-feel-sorry-for-himself recovery. Everybody saw it.
The job may not be done yet, but this club appears headed in the right direction after some tough years and the Covid exile…
It’s important to fully live both feelings - the job is not done and you are doing things right. Professional sports cannot only be based on results otherwise you are following the wrong facts.
Basketball has 61% more players at the school level since 2000.