Hoops

Breakers assistant Fitchett resigns

"I don't agree. There were some appointments that weren’t great. The fact that it’s taken so long for Zico to get a look in shows it wasn’t meritocratic. Even some player contracts at times were questionable."

Yet their record during the Blackwell's tenure suggests otherwise.

God I'm sure a lot of teams in the league would love to give out some questionable player contracts and make some appointments that weren't great as a trade-off for 4 NBL championships (and another GF).

"Enough of the plane ticket sooking....
Go to webjet it's not even a weeks wages for a return ticket.
Get over it."

Thunder Jam, it's not about the cost of the Airline ticket it's about the overall experience and chemistry building within the group that his replacement has missed out on.

"I'm suggesting if it were a non-story, Walsh wouldn't feel the need to put a spin on things."

Of course he would, yet another person has quit the club, another person who had been there a number of years, giving further weight to the feeling that all is not well. He had to respond and he's gone on the offensive, that's good PR work on his behalf.


Re the tweet you speak of, here it is:

"People within the Breakers - players et al - aren’t happy with Fitchett’s sudden resignation"

Doesn't really say much. Are they unhappy because a good assistant is gone? Are they unhappy because his timing was bad? Are they unhappy because they thought his conduct was poor? Are they unhappy because things aren't going well at the club and this is another negative?

Well said.

"You're disputing that Fitchett quit?"

I'm assuming that silly comment is because you have run out of ideas?

Walsh has followed the golden rule, make sure the first thing people hear about an issue is from your mouth, and it's what you want them to believe. Studies show people are most likely to believe the first piece of information they hear on a subject.

This thread is a good example of that, people immediately buying Walsh's line that this was premeditated and Fitchett has already sold his house in anticipation. We don't know that's true because the journo doesn't appear to have bothered to find out from anyone other than Walsh.

The journalist has also done a poor job by effectively quoting Fitchett via Walsh's mouth. A PR dream for Walsh and the club, but it's just a case of reporting half the story.

It's pretty low to go into detail about Fitchett's personal living arrangements to the media. Most owners would just say something vague about an employee leaving, Walsh sounds like a cunt to be honest.

"The new developments are the other points which you're conveniently choosing to ignore."

The "other points" have only come out of the mouth of Walsh, that's my point, it would be silly to treat them as fact. He is presenting one side of the story to the media.

“The Breakers had a great culture under the Blackwells but the club wasn't profitable.”

What NBL franchise is profitable (apart from probs Perth).

The league and its franchises are trying to move towards profitability, but they’re not there yet.

James Michener exposes US pro team “profitability” in his classic book “Sport in America”. US franchises have distinct tax advantages that just wouldn’t exist here. NBA merchandise is also very lucrative, NBL merchandise is...

He coached Nelson last season. That is not a new development.

"639, did you read the article?"

Yes I did, and all I see are comments from Walsh. I wouldn't be taking his word on this as gospil.

The Breakers had a great culture under the Blackwells but the club wasn’t profitable.
Walsh is trying to change that.
Seems a lot of Kiwis don’t like changes.
Poor form from Fitchett to accept a plane ticket to the States and abandon the team at the Airport on the way home rather than quit before the trip so his replacement could be part of the experience and build with the team towards the season.

Has the Breakers academy been scrapped?

Breakers have two development players: Terry Li and RJ Hampton.

I wondered why there weren't any Kiwis until that the RJ part clicked.

"Sure... but then he conveniently decided to quit his job and move. That's more than a little suspect."

How do you know he's moved?

People are reading a lot into the house sale. He could have intended to rent in AKL and carry on his role? Selling your house isn't the be all and end all.

IMO it sounds like something Walsh would try and overemphasise and then frame it in a way to make it seem like Fitchett deliberately withheld his decision until the last minute.

In my view, the whole organisation is totally cooked. Walsh and his ownership group have completely stuffed up this team. I won't be going to their games.

The Breakers rarely had issues under previous management and no unusually/extra high churn of players/coaches across the last 7 years(and those that did have issues got the rightful boot) - and they had great success - now all these issues appear when Walsh comes in. That's not coincidental.

Also, if Walsh has "high expectations " of his employees will he kick Hampton back to the USA if he rocks up and has 1/8 and 2/11 type shooting games in the regular season? I don't think so.

Hopefully a wealthy Kiwi buys the team back soon.

Beat me to it. What they did to Braswell was shady.

Is the culture bad? Or is it just different?

The timing looks bad for all concerned. That said, how long did he have his home on the market for?

Perhaps he finally had enough of the culture after a grueling international road trip.

The timing doesn't help Fitchett - if this happened a month ago, then the media would more likely back him. Get a fully paid fare to the US then decide to cancel? Not ideal.

Perhaps its that he isn't the 2IC, which was likely given to Zico Coronel from the outset. I'm intrigued as to why Zico signed into this, and is still around. Known good quality across the NZ league. Either he's weathering the poor culture to a higher gig (G-League assistant?) or perhaps Fitchett wasn't as well-regarded as we all thought.

Breakers have gone from having the best club culture in the NBL to the worst. Well done new owners.

"Poor form by Fitchett putting his house on the market, selling it, planning a move to Nelson, and still taking the trip to the US for preseason games knowing he had no intention on coaching this season. "

How do you know he did that? Walsh has used that as a one-sided public slur, but highly likely there is more to the story.