Breakers show great heart to defy the odds

A few days of bonding together on the road can do wonders for some teams and with two imports out and one in foul trouble, the BNZ Breakers put in a performance to make coach Gordon Herbert beam with pride in Canberra on Wednesday.

The Breakers arrived in Canberra to play the defending champion Kings right up against it.

They were playing a Sydney team fresh off a first loss of the season, they were playing their own third straight away game and hadn’t been home in between losing in Perth on Saturday night and coming to Canberra for the Ignite Cup by 7-Eleven match up.

Then the Breakers were still without import pair Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Josiah-Jordan James with replacement Nelson Weidemann yet to arrive.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the lone remaining import Charles Bediako was relegated to having no impact either because of foul trouble and being out there for just over 12 minutes.

Despite that, the Breakers showed great character to dominate the third quarter and then hold on in a frantic finish for the 102-101 victory to improve to 4-3 on the season, which is a standout result given what they've dealt with.

That's what is standing out above all else for coach Herbert because he only truly can judge a team until he sees how they handle adversity.

"We're in the midst of a five-game road trip so to win in Adelaide and now beat Sydney, I think it shows the character of this group," Herbert said.

"I think it's really important when you face adversity how you handle it and I think they've handled it great. Up to now, we'll see.

"I think our players have done a great job embracing that adversity right now. They're not hanging their heads or feeling sorry for themselves, they're going out and competing, and we're going forward.

"I think when we get Parker and James back, it gives us a chance to be even stronger so to speak because it's given guys like Carlin a chance to really step up in a different situation.

"I think the guys have embraced it extremely well because I don’t think anybody expected us to win this game today."

Sam Mennenga has taken on the extra responsibility over the last two games for the Breakers in the absence of Jackson-Cartwright to average 33.5 points and 15.5 rebounds.

Mojave King has also delivered 17 points in both games, but it's been Carlin Davison who has been the unexpected breakout star. Not because he's not shown the ability previously, but because of the role he is playing.

Following 11 assists against the Wildcats as point guard, Davison backed up with a dazzling performance against the Kings with 20 points, 14 assists, four rebounds and four steals.

He is the only player, not Kendric Davis or Bryce Cotton, to have such a stat line over the last 18 years since the NBL reverted to 40-minute games, with his coach suitably impressed.

"I just think in the last couple of games just his demeanour has changed and he's really accepted the challenge, and the responsibility and stepped up," Herbert said.

"You know obviously it's tough with Parker out but I think a real positive if you look at it is that we've found another point guard in the process.

"So I think that's a real positive from the Parker injury so to speak if you could say there is one."

The Breakers came back from a 10-point deficit in the first quarter to lead 31-29 at quarter-time before conceding 32 points to the Kings in the second to go into half-time down 10.

Herbert was concerned, but knows that most games have their most important period coming out of half-time and what he saw from the Breakers was an outfit determined to make a stand.

They executed on offence better, they locked in on defence and shut down the Kings, and he was delighted with how they got back into the game.

"I thought we had a really good third quarter and one of the most important part of any basketball game is the first three or four minutes of the fourth quarter," he said.

"I think we learned from the Perth game where we really lost that part and today I thought we won that part, and got back into the game because I thought they had all the momentum going into half-time."

Herbert also reflected on what he could have done better from a coaching perspective after a strong performance in Perth, despite being shorthanded before the Breakers were overrun.

He tried his best to help Mennenga and Davison have something left in the tank by the end of Wednesday night's game with contributions from Kouat Noi, Anzac Rissetto and Izayah Le'Afa helped with that.

It was still a nervy finish, though, when Torrey Craig hit four three-pointers in the last two minutes for the Kings.

"Against Perth I thought I didn’t do a good enough job getting guys a rest and getting them to play too much, and that hurt us in the fourth quarter I thought," Herbert said.

"So we tried to get a bit better rotation today and a little bit shorter minutes. Especially with Sam and Carlin who played a lot of minutes at different times, I thought it was really important that we kept up the game flow when they were off the floor.

"I talked to the team about it afterwards and even when we were up 10 after Reuben hit the shot, I told them it wasn’t a good shot because we had to use the clock.

"The only way they could catch us is if we took a quick shot or turned the ball over and that's what we did. But I'm just happy for the players that we were able to pull that out because of how hard they played the second half."

While there won't be any reprieve in the short-term with returns for the Breakers of Jackson-Cartwright and James, replacement import Nelson Weidemann is getting closer to arriving.

Sunday's game in Tasmania against the JackJumpers will be too soon, but Herbert expects to see him next week back in Auckland and potentially for him to suit up in what will be Reuben Te Rangi's 400th NBL game the following Sunday in Cairns.

"The latest information I have is that I think the visa has come through, or is getting through, and he might be here later in the week which would be the best-case scenario," Herbert said.

"But it might not be until the beginning of next week in New Zealand and I don’t have more of an update than that, but I think the process has gone forward.

"That's what is tough about this league is that if you have one or two injuries it's really tough for the replacement with an 11-man roster and this kind of stuff. On the flipside, it really gives the developmental players a chance to really step in and play."