Basketball New Zealand

Kirk Penney (Photosport)

Facing a do-or-die scenario, with a loss likely to mean the end of their finals aspirations, the Burger King NZ Breakers lent heavily on scoring machine Kirk Penney and he came up with something special for Player of the Week honours in Week 17 of the Australian NBL.

His freakish display of basketball against the Adelaide 36ers on Thursday night at the North Shore Events Centre ensured the 2009 NBL MVP took the league’s weekly honours.

Penney shot 16/23 from the field, which included 9/15 from the three-point line. He also made 8/11 attempts from the free throw stripe, and added five rebounds, five assists and two steals to his stellar night.

Penney’s 49 points was just one point shy of Carlos Powell’s club record of 50 points. Powell however produced his 50 points in a 48-minute game, rather than the 40-minute version being played this season in the NBL.

Even though Adelaide made a spirited comeback to give themselves a fourth quarter lead, it was Penney who stood up and kept the Breakers scoreboard ticking over just when it looked like their fourth quarter wobbles were coming back, scoring 16 final quarter points.

Penney and the Breakers then had to travel to the Gold Coast to take on the Blaze in a match that may well have set them up for the playoffs. The Blaze were ready for Penney in this contest, limiting him to just two first quarter points. However with the game still in the balance late in the fourth Penney’s scoring mindset helped the Breakers blow the game wide open.

A two-point Penney field goal then a three-pointer gave the Breakers a comfortable 15-point lead with five minutes to go. Penney finished with 14 points and six rebounds, helping the Breakers take out a monster road win and keep them in the hunt for the playoffs.

Despite Penney’s performance against Gold Coast being sub-par by his own lofty standards, he still averaged a round-high 31.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in a pair of critical wins, and his amazing 49-point spree simply could not be ignored.

Penney’s 49 against Adelaide was the second-highest ever in a 40-minute NBL game behind Reg Biddings’ 63 in 1981 and was easily the highest score by any player in the league this season, blowing away the previous best mark of 37 set by Townsville’s Corey “Homicide” Williams.

Williams can consider himself unlucky to have been beaten out for the award this week by such an exceptional performance. “Homicide” averaged 20.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists himself in three games for the Crocs to be a serious contender for the Round 17 honours.