Sunday evening saw Spark Arena painted in pink from the crowds to the basketball court, as the New Zealand Breakers took the first game of the best-of-three semifinal series over the Tasmania JackJumpers, 88-68.
Former Tall Black and Toa Hōpa presenter Brook Ruscoe (Te Atihanui-ā-Pāpārangi) was part of the epic game's commentary. With the Breakers in the ANBL finals for the first time since 2018, Ruscoe says he puts down the team's changed ways to the coach.
“[Coach Mody Maor] has changed everything. He was the assistant coach last year, and you could see the passion on the sidelines but it’s really come through this year.
“A lot of us, myself included, at the start of the year, if you’d said that the Breakers were going to be here at this point of the year there was absolutely no way.”
That’s because the multi-NBL championship-winning NZ team was at the table bottom by season’s end last year. Since then, it’s been rebuilding from the ground up, culture changes, player imports - and this season’s record is reflective of their efforts, currently at 18 wins, 10 losses and second on the table.
And, before Cyclone Gabrielle could cancel their mode of transport for the second game, the team was off early this morning to travel to Hobart for game two.
Looking back on last night’s performance capitalising on the absence of JackJumpers' star point guard Josh Magette, Ruscoe believes they can take the second game but warns the Breakers should take into account that their opponents were last year’s runner-up winners too.
“[The JackJumpers] have been there before, they’re well tested. It's a tough place to play so it’s not going to be a given. But the Breakers put on a good performance.
“I would be surprised if [game three] comes back to New Zealand but if it does come back it’s a great place to come back to.”
With game two comes hostile crowd energy in Tasmania. But Ruscoe believes that if they can shut it out by putting points on early, it’ll be a grand final appearance for sure.
“It’s like home cooking: We’re back, the Breakers are in the playoffs and it just felt right.”
