Post Season Review - New Zealand

The Season

The best team by far and were rightfully rewarded with their second consecutive premiership.  The Breakers had some resistance from Perth but were heads and shoulders above everyone else.  Not only did they have a six game winning streak they also had two five game winning runs which put them firmly in first place after the regular season.  The team drew the fourth placed Crocodiles where they promptly got flogged in the first game but turned it around and won the next two.  That meant that they were pitted against Perth and had a fantastic series which resulted with the Breakers winning 2-1, taking home the trophy.

What went right?

Lots.  Many fans wondered how the team would cope without Kirk Penney but the front office were able to snag (in my opinion) the best player in the league, Cedric Jackson.  Jackson was named to this blog’s first team with an ER of 16.6 while fellow import Gary Wilkinson was selected for the All NBL Second Team (15.8) and Thomas Abercrombie slotted into the Third Team (13.9).  They had amazing depth and more importantly compatible talent with a legit big man in Alex Ledger, a couple of scrappers (Mika Vukona and Dillon Boucher) as well as a couple of dead eye marksmen in CJ Bruton and Daryl Corletto.

What went wrong?

Very, very little.  CJ Bruton was sometimes invisible but made up for it in the Finals but the main concern would be that their young guys that sat near the end of the bench didn’t really improve during the season.  I guess that could be excused because of the talent in front of them but teams always need to look forward to the future.  Leon Henry was the main culprit.

Most Valuable Player

In my opinion Cedric Jackson should have been the league MVP but he will have to settle for being the MVP on the championship team.  He was a revelation and a nightly walking triple double.  The fact that he didn’t get one was a little disappointing because it would have been pretty neat as I can’t remember the last time an NBL player recorded one.  Hopefully he comes back next season to dazzle us some more.

Targets

The team has all but three players under contract with two of those players being main components, Jackson and Wilkinson (the other player being BJ Anthony).  Wilkinson can be replaced, regrettably, but Jackson was very good for the team and the league New Zealand will have a very hard time replacing him.  If Jackson does move onto greener pastures a return of Kirk Penney may well be on the cards.

Next Season

It all depends on their import situation but if they can retain Jackson and Wilkinson or get other players of similar quality this team will again be the favourites for the NBL title, tying the early 2000’s Kings with a three peat.

Grade

A+