Breakers Prepare For Slingers
Tagged in: NZ Breakers
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The Harvey Norman NZ Breakers are promising fatigue wonít be a factor in tomorrow nightís Hummer Championship NBL clash against Singapore at the North Shore Events Centre.
After playing one home game a week in the first month of the league, the second month has more than doubled in intensity with nine games, six of them off-shore.
Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis says the team is walking a fine line between freshening weary legs and honing game plans and team work.
“As a team we’ve spoken about the challenges our current schedule presents,î Lemanis said.
ìEveryone is feeling a little fatigued, but we all understand the importance of putting that aside come game day. We have to deal with it and still play well – that’s what a good team does.
ìWeíve gone to one session a day instead of two for parts of this busy period, but weíve also needed these last three days to refine and get better. You need to be ready.î
Offensive execution has been under the spotlight this week following the disappointment of shooting at an uncharacteristic 34.8% during the 87-70 loss in Adelaide last Saturday, just 48 hours after nailing 58% in a 127-126 home win over the defending champion Brisbane Bullets.
The Breakers beat the bottom-placed Slingers 116-99 in Singapore two and a half weeks ago, won this corresponding home fixture last season 103-100 and have won their last three home games.
But the Slingers have an overall two-win, two-loss record against the Breakers and provided the latest upset of the season when ejecting Perth from the top four with an overtime win on Sunday.
ìTheyíll be feeling good about life and this is an important game for us so weíre treating it with the respect and concentration it requires,î Lemanis said.
ìThe Slingers are a real threat with their ability to run in the open floor and put pressure on the rim. Theyíre the best in the league for points in the paint which is an indicator of how aggressive they are at penetration as it doesn’t really come from post play.î
Former Breakers development player and current Harbour Heat guard Hayden Allen, in his first season with the Slingers, will be back on his winter home court.
Tip off at the North Shore Events Centre tomorrow night is at 7.30pm.
