Henare Blow For Breakers
Tagged in: NZ Breakers, Tall Blacks
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Mike Kilpatrick, Sportal
The Harvey Norman NZ Breakers are going to have to cope without influential point guard Paul Henare for the opening part of the season after the NZ Tall Black tweaked an existing knee injury before the game against the Cairns Taipans on Thursday night.
Henare failed a late fitness test and is scheduled to undergo surgery on Monday as he looks to cure cartilage problems in both knees, with doctors predicting he will be out for four to six weeks.
The injury is a hangover from Tall Blacks duty and was being managed to ensure Henare could play.
If he had taken to court against the Taipans, Henare would have sat solo at the top of the Breakers’ appearance chart for the first time having shared the position with Aaron Olson for 130 games.
But Henare missed his first ever Breakers’ game and had to watch from the sidelines as his team-mates came up agonisingly close against the fancied Taipans.
“I’m really gutted. I worked so hard and wanted to get out there. Watching is not what I want,” said Henare.
The loss of Henare is likely to cause less of an impact than it might have had in previous seasons, his absence mitigated by the signing of American import, and former Harlem Globetrotter, Wayne Turner and the emergence of 21-year-old Ryan Kersten.
Turner scored 15 points on his Breakers’ debut while Kersten made his first appearance from the bench on Thursday night.
Kersten made an immediate impact with his confident and combative play, drawing praise from Henare at half-time.
“Kersten has done a fantastic job,” Henare said.
Henare’s comments were backed up by Breakers’ coach Andrej Lemanis after the game.
“He did a great job for a rookie. The kid has got some talent and I’m really pleased with where he is at,” said Lemanis.
“The strength of the Breakers is in the depth. To have Pauli go out and Ryan to come in is a nice position to be in.”
