Bediako focused on continued improvement

BNZ Breakers centre Charles Bediako is building nicely into his first season in the NBL, but is focused on continuing to get better and loves having Sam Mennenga as a teammate and paid tribute to 400-gamer Reuben Te Rangi.

Bediako came to the NBL for the first time this season with an impressive pedigree having had a strong college career at the University of Alabama and since playing in the G League, in Canada and then with his national team.

That connection playing for Canada with Gordie Herbert as a coach made it a natural fit for Bediako to join the BNZ Breakers but he does admit it's been a learning process finding his feet in a new league, and new part of the world.

But he is now fresh off having his biggest impact on a game so far in NBL27 on Sunday in Cairns against the Taipans where he finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks on shooting 5/6 from the field, and being out there for a season-high 30 minutes.

Having spent a couple of years in the G League with the Grand City Rapids Gold and Motor City Cruise, and then a season in Canada with the Scarborough Shooting Stars, it was a big step for Bediako to decide to play in the NBL.

Joining the BNZ Breakers became a natural fit given Herbert is also his Canadian coach, but he is still finding his feet and feels like as long as he keeps improving every day, he's on the right track.

"Obviously it's a bit of a transition and adjustment, and I would say it's a little more team ball over here," Bediako said.

"Obviously my teammates have been doing their best to help me and the coaching staff have been helping me get adjusted to it.

"I feel like every day we try to take a step forward and that's the most important part. As long as you're getting at least one per cent better every day, then eventually it'll show."

Speaking after Sunday's game in Cairns where he had his best performance of the season, what Bediako's focus was on what he and the team could still have done better to win what was a close game with the Taipans.

He is also his harshest critic and was tough on himself for going 5/9 from the free-throw while as a team the BNZ Breakers did only go 12/23 which was costly in a two-point result.

They still did plenty right and Bediako was impressive so they'll try to keep it all in perspective in their review.

"I felt like my teammates found me in the right spots and I feel like overall just as a team we could have done a lot of stuff better," Bediako said.

"Obviously there was stuff that would have helped us during the game and we missed a decent amount of free throws, and I take full responsibility on that.

"I have to get better, but obviously in a performance like that we focus on those sort of things especially when you end up with a loss.

"But we'll take a look at everything on the film and I'll look at fixing some of the things I've gotta get better at, and as a team things we have to get better at to ultimately reach our goal."

Bediako is now sharing a front court with Sam Mennenga with the BNZ Breakers this season and knows first hand from going against him in practice how tough he is, and continues to marvel at what he's doing in games.

Across the season, Mennenga has been mighty impressive with 23.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists a game, but that's gone up another level with 31.3 points, 12.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists the past four matches.

"Oh shoot, he's our anchor," Bediako said.

"He's a very skilled offensive player and he also brings energy on defence for both of us, and I feel like he's actually helped my game get better.

"I mean shoot, I'd say he is arguably the best big in this league and I feel like he helps not only me, but everybody on our team get better.

"Having a guy like that and being a leader himself, it's great to have that."

Another reason why Sunday's game in Cairns was so significant was that it marked the 400th appearance in the NBL for BNZ Breakers veteran Reuben Te Rangi.

He is now in his second season back with his original club where he won two championships and already Bediako has learned plenty off the 32-year-old as he gets used to playing himself in the NBL for the first time.

"Oh man, I call him the OG and I also feel like he's been sharing his knowledge with me as well," Bediako said.

"He's been in this league for I don’t know how long, but also him just cracking 400 that's just a big accomplishment for him.

"Obviously it's unfortunate we didn’t get the win, but you know if we look past that, something like that doesn’t happen every day.

"So shoot, a great congrats to him and hopefully he can now spend some time with his family to celebrate that and we'll try doing that as a team as well."

Now following the five straight games in Australia, Bediako and everyone at the BNZ Breakers can't wait to return to Spark Arena this Friday night to play host to the Adelaide 36ers.

"Yes for sure we are looking forward to it and we're just going to learn from this game, go back to the drawing board and we'll be excited to get to the next one," Bediako said.

"It's a long season and we're just going to take it one game at a time, but we're excited for this next home game."