Hoops

New Zealand Breakers - 2016/17

As I may have mentioned elsewhere, NZ is fortunate to have a couple of players, especially Vukona, who bring their A game come finals time (although I think G3 was a bit much even for him.) But doesn't that suggest that playing a few less minutes would be good for him?
Wesley's good. Of similar sized forwards he was probably close to the best in the league.
Fact is the existing NZ lineup made it to G3 on the GF, so we're only talking about tweaking the front court, and maybe covering for Mika getting a year older.

In the backcourt, maybe just some more depth on the bench? If you get Cedric naturalised, maybe pick up a 2nd-tier import combo guard for the bench?
Someone like Jett, I think he's in NZ already? :-)

Through the slump I was critical of everyone but especially Vukona. Come the games that mattered (well apart from the final) he was a Beast.
Wesley was pretty good when not injured/sick.

You didn't watch the semis, did you?

This may be a bit off-base, but I suspect NZ with Vukona and Wesley, may be where we were last year with Redhage and Wagstaff. The Veteran not really good enough to keep the starting 5 competitive, and bench-player taking minutes but not really up to replacing him?
Vukona is a dead set legend, but I'm not sure he's still up to the demands placed upon him, especially with the current lineup? That's why I thought replacing Jackson with something like a younger version of Hakim Warrick or even a Matty Knight type?

At least the Breakers are big on developing local talent. Te Rangi is still very young, younger than your average returning college player. Not saying he's a super-star, but will be interesting to see how he develops. Ili I think shows promise.
McDonald I assume was a stop-gap measure, I wouldn't expect him to stay around. If Te Rangi & Ili are taking spots 9 & 10, that still leaves plenty of scope for depth, especially if they use their import slots well.

If the Breakers want to waste a roster spot on Te Rangi a guy who shoots 29% from the field and 21% on 3pts and is a liability on the court that is their business but if they want to seriously challenge Perth next time I think they need more out of the Te Rangi/Bartlett/McDonald spots on the roster. Ili at least offers something.

TeRangi is only 21 I believe, he isn't going to be cut but needs to put in work to develop his offensive game more.
McDonald is redundant with Ili coming through and Bartlett will likely lose his spot to an import.
Part of the deal getting Jackson back was the the lure of naturalisation and playing international basketball. I can't see him leaving the Breakers now.

I think the Breakers did alright despite having such a thin bench. Guys like Te Rangi, McDonald & Bartlett need to be culled especially when Ili a DP is playing in crucial periods ahead of those three.

Interesting.
Like many, I was surprised that Vickerman didn't give Bartlett more minutes in the finals, I thought he could have added a couple of threes, especially when Cedric was struggling. But perhaps he's just not a big-game player?

I would imagine that when Cedric is on his game, with Webster & Abercrombie, your perimeter shooting is sorted? With Bartlett adding something off the bench.

Craig I thought was better last season, but still a good player.

Will be interesting to see which way NZ goes.

Breakers need someone who can come on and score, weather it's a Torrey Craig type player or a pure SG. A stretch 4/5 would work but when Abercrombie and Webster are firing I'm not sure another shooter is required over some rim protection.

Hopefully Jawai will get even rounder in the offseason so he can only play 5/10 mins a game :)

Mystro,
from what I have read, the 11th man proposal is to allow teams to take a DP on the road.

Do you think the breakers are best with a Charles Jackson type, or perhaps a 4/5 who could play some minutes alongside Pledger?

What type of player would you look for in your 3rd import?

I would love to see a team of:

Ced Jackson/ Shea Ili
Corey Webster / Import / Bartlett (11th man)
Tom Abercrombie / Kirk Penney
Mika Vukona / Tai Wesley
Alex Pledger / Charles Jackson

Obviously it is unlikely that Kirk Penney will be back and playing a backup role and then that spot is likely to be occupied by Reuben TeRangi and if Charles Jackson isn't able to be retained I would love to see Rob Loe take that spot to stretch the floor. The third import would likely be a 2/3.
With the rosters being stretched to 11 the Breakers can hopefully keep Bartlett.

IIRC Webster's wife left him, his form slumped, and rumours circulated.
There was a weird article which spoke about "betrayal" between Webster & Cedric.
What wasn't clear was whether it was talking about Webster not pulling his weight, or one or the other had been diddling the other's better half.

Have no idea what the truth or otherwise is, so will just have to wait and see.

Oops.
Not sure how that happened, I meant "wrong side of 30"
Anyway my point was meant to be that there core players aren't that old (I think Cedric is just 30?)
and whilst Vukona may be the veteran, its got a lot of good basketball left.

I don't profess any detailed knowledge of the Breakers. It seems to be that in recent seasons they have gone for a similar type of player in Ibekwe and Jackson. And with Pledger fit, it seems a bit of a redundancy. Jackson was impressive in some ways, but his scoring seemed more opportunistic.
Its no coincidence that Pledger averaged 19 minutes & Jackson 20. That's why I thought about a 4/5 who could play some minutes alongside Pledger. Similar I suppose to the role Wilkinson played for them , and perhaps a bit like Warrick has played for MU.

I think you'll find Cedric will be back and very pissed off he didn't win another title.

That 7 game win streak was fairly solid though.....Lost the one that really mattered unfortunately but Perth deserve a lot of credit for that.

A great shot of common sense there, Paul... Later in the season Cedric DID seem to force things too much, but his 3pt shot was dropping and from what I've seen, that is a pretty strong drug that when it DOES stop dropping, especially for someone who isn't used to it dropping, it could be a hard thing to kick... Plus throw in a bit of team turmoil and Webster being inconsistent, I think we can overlook any sort of desire to try to take things over himself...

Were there rumours that Cedric might be following Lemanis to BrisVegas? Can any of our NZ brethren confirm any stronger relationships between Lemanis or Vickerman?

Otherwise, you'd think that with the big three locked in (did Webster honour his initial 3yr deal upon returning from the NBA?), Pledger would be a lock and then all the role players will fall into line, if they're wanted...

Not really sure what the teams will look like next season if all the mooted changes are made.
But as it stands, I think NZ still have an exceptional core group. Vukona is really the only one on the wrong side of 35, and yet he is such a legend and such a competitor that I'm sure he's got a couple of good years left in him.

Cedric had (by his standards) an unsettled year, but remains one of the elite PGs in the league. Not sure how the laws are in NZ, but he might be in line for naturalisation soonish?

Be interesting to see if they go for another Ibekwe / Jackson type? Or maybe someone who's a higher-scoring 4/5 type...

If the system remains unchanged, I think what may hinder NZ under the PPR system is the "breaks" that Vukona, Cedric, and Webster took away from the team. That's another 6 points gone begging there.
Their 7 core players could absorb 54~57 points. That might allow them to bring in another import if they can rely on players like Ili, Mcdonald, or Bartlett to fill out the bench.

(Or everything could change with proposed new rules...)

Not end of a dynasty yet. Only three players contracted, but Vukona, Abercrombie, and Webster are those three if I remember the tweet correctly, and that is a very strong start.