2019–20 New Zealand Breakers season

The 2019–20 NBL season was the 17th season for the New Zealand Breakers in the NBL.

2019–20 New Zealand Breakers season
Head Coach Dan Shamir
Captain Thomas Abercrombie
StadiumSpark Arena, Auckland
NBL results
Ladder6th
FinalsDNQ
Wins15
Losses13
Player Records
Scoring leader Corey Webster
19.6
Rebounding leader Brandon Ashley
6.5
Assists leader Scotty Hopson
4.7
Uniforms
All statistics correct as of 21 April 2020.

Season summary

For the 2019–20 season, the Breakers acquired the services of internationally respected Israeli coach Dan Shamir, replacing Kevin Braswell.[1] He bought with him nearly two decades of extensive experience coaching in Europe and Israel, the highlight being part of two Euroleague championship wins with Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv.[2]

Shamir recruited seven new players,[1] including US teen sensation R. J. Hampton as part of the NBL Next Stars program.[3] The Breakers and SKY Sport agreed to a multi-year naming rights sponsorship through to 2023,[4] along with broadcast rights for the next four years, including free to air viewing of 14 games on Prime in New Zealand.[5] The club also announced it would take four games around New Zealand, one each to New Plymouth and Invercargill, plus two in Christchurch after a near 15-year hiatus.[6] The Breakers began their 2019–20 campaign with a pre-season trip to the United States with games against NBA teams the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder, losing both by double digits.[7][8]

Turmoil engulfed the early stages of the season, with their on-court woes of a 2–7 start coinciding with off-court woes.[9] An injury to import Scotty Hopson led to the controversial signing of troubled American journeyman Glen Rice Jr.,[10] who less than two weeks after arriving in Auckland was arrested after a scuffle in a bar and subsequently suspended indefinitely by the club.[11][12] Additionally, Breakers owner Matt Walsh was fined $5000 and given a two-game ban for getting into a heated argument with the NBL commissioner after a game, and forward Tom Vodanovich was met by police following a flight from Perth to Auckland in November after taking a sleeping pill in conjunction with alcohol that led to misbehaviour on the flight.[13] The multitude of incidents led to the questioning of the club's culture, with the new ownership seemingly moving away from the family values installed under previous owners Paul and Liz Blackwell.[14] Despite the controversy surrounding the club, the Breakers were playing to record home crowds[15] and the 24 October encounter against the Illawarra Hawks—which saw Hampton matched-up with LaMelo Ball—was the most-watched game in NBL history with nearly two million views globally on Facebook. There were an estimated five million views on highlights from the game shared on social media platforms including Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.[16]

A loss against the Adelaide 36ers on 24 November saw them drop to 2–8 — their worst start to a campaign since their debut in 2003–04 when they also lost eight of their first 10 games. Additionally, the team lost Corey Webster to an ankle injury.[17] Rice was reinstated to the roster for round 10 following an investigation by Basketball Australia,[18] but following his return match against the Taipans, he was arrested again for breaching bail conditions and was subsequently sacked by the Breakers.[19] His release coincided with the return of Hopson from injury.[19][20][21] After dropping to a 4–10 record, Webster left for China.[22] A remarkable turn around occurred from round 13 onwards with the Breakers reaching 8–10 by the end of December following a four-game winning streak,[23] and then winning 11 of their last 14 games to finish the season 15–13, only missing the playoffs on points differential.[24][25] The late-season push saw the Breakers being dubbed "the team no one wants to play in the playoffs".[26]

Roster

2019–20 New Zealand Breakers roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.
G 0 Li, Terry (DP) 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
G/F 1 Hopson, Scotty (I) 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 104 kg (229 lb)
F 3 Delany, Finn 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 102 kg (225 lb)
G/F 10 Abercrombie, Thomas (C) 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 90 kg (198 lb)
F 13 Vodanovich, Tom 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 100 kg (220 lb)
G 14 Hampton, R. J.  (IN, NS) 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 82 kg (181 lb)
F/C 15 Loe, Robert 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 111 kg (245 lb)
F 20 Ngatai, Jordan 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 98 kg (216 lb)
F 21 Ashley, Brandon (I) 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 104 kg (229 lb)
G 22 Henry, Sek (I) 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 90 kg (198 lb)
G/F 25 Rusbatch, Ethan 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 97 kg (214 lb)
C 33 Majok, Ater  2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 106 kg (234 lb)
G/F 45 Deng, Deng 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 93 kg (205 lb)
G 97 Weeks, Jarrad 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 80 kg (176 lb)
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Zico Coronel
  • Modi Maor

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Development player
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (I) Import player
  • (NS) Next Star player
  • Injured

Updated: 18 December 2019

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Development
C Ater Majok Robert Loe
PF Brandon Ashley Finn Delany Tom Vodanovich
SF Scotty Hopson Thomas Abercrombie Jordan Ngatai
SG Sek Henry Ethan Rusbatch
PG R. J. Hampton Jarrad Weeks Terry Li

Pre-season

The Breakers pre-season games included one regular pre-season game against the Adelaide 36ers, two games in the NBL Blitz and another two games in the NBLxNBA series, and only played a total of five games.[27][28][29]

Standings

2019-20 NBL pre-season ladder
LadderInformation
Pos.Nat.NamePld.W.L.Last 5StreakHomeAwayForAgainstPts %Win %
1 Sydney Kings 5 4 1 4-1 W3 1-0 3-1 486 394 123.35% 80.00%
2 Cairns Taipans 9 6 3 4-1 W4 3-1 3-2 811 763 106.29% 66.67%
3 SEM Phoenix (NT) 9 6 3 4-1 W2 3-2 3-1 819 784 104.46% 66.67%
4 Melbourne United 12 6 6 2-3 L2 4-3 2-3 1167 1095 106.58% 50.00%
5 Brisbane Bullets 8 4 4 3-2 W3 1-1 3-3 676 676 100.00% 50.00%
6 Illawarra Hawks 6 3 3 2-3 L2 1-1 2-2 598 631 94.77% 50.00%
7 Adelaide 36ers 10 4 6 1-4 L2 1-1 3-5 892 920 96.96% 40.00%
8 Perth Wildcats (RC) 7 2 5 1-4 L1 1-2 1-3 625 671 93.14% 28.57%
9 NZ Breakers 6 1 5 0-5 L5 0-0 1-5 501 574 87.28% 16.67%

Total Rounds
11 weeks

Total Games
46 games


Legend
  • (NT) New Team
  • (RC) Reigning Champion

  • Updated: 17 October 2019

Game log

2019–20 season game log

Regular season

The regular season of the NBL consisted of 28 games, with 10 of the Breakers' 14 home games held at Spark Arena, two held at Horncastle Arena, one at TSB Stadium and one at iLT Stadium Southland.[30][31]

Standings

2019-20 NBL ladder
LadderInformation
Pos.Nat.NamePld.W.L.Last 5StreakHomeAwayForAgainstPts %Win %
1 Sydney Kings 28 20 8 4-1 W2 12-2 8-6 2642 2472 106.88% 71.43%
2 Perth Wildcats (RC) 28 19 9 4-1 W3 11-3 8-6 2529 2409 104.98% 67.86%
3 Cairns Taipans 28 16 12 3-2 L2 11-3 5-9 2587 2547 101.57% 57.14%
4 Melbourne United 28 15 13 4-1 W3 9-5 6-8 2638 2560 103.05% 53.57%
5 Brisbane Bullets 28 15 13 3-2 W1 10-4 5-9 2607 2557 101.96% 53.57%
6 NZ Breakers 28 15 13 4-1 W4 9-5 6-8 2514 2468 101.86% 53.57%
7 Adelaide 36ers 28 12 16 1-4 L2 8-6 4-10 2654 2768 95.88% 42.86%
8 SEM Phoenix (NT) 28 9 19 0-5 L8 6-8 3-11 2671 2761 96.74% 32.14%
9 Illawarra Hawks 28 5 23 0-5 L10 3-11 2-12 2354 2654 88.70% 17.86%

Total Rounds
20
Games per Team
28
Total Games
126


Legend
  • (NT) New Team
  • (RC) Reigning Champion

  • Updated: 16 February 2020[32]

Ladder progression

  • Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top four.
  • Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
  • Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Adelaide 36ers 8445665564555577777
Brisbane Bullets 24554556777787654455
Cairns Taipans 77668877646444333333
Illawarra Hawks 65799998999999999999
Melbourne United 56886433433333445664
New Zealand Breakers 977789888876866546
Perth Wildcats 42322322222222222222
South East Melbourne Phoenix 33233244355668788888
Sydney Kings 11111111111111111111

Game log

2019–20 season game log

Awards

Player of the Week

Round 12, Scotty Hopson

Round 16, Scotty Hopson

See also

References

  1. Hinton, Marc (7 August 2019). "New Breakers coach Dan Shamir eyes epic challenges: 'We'll have to be so smart'". Stuff. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  2. NZME, Christopher Reive Christopher Reive is a sports reporter for (31 July 2019). "Basketball: Breakers confirm Dan Shamir as new coach; announce Scotty Hopson signing". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  3. "NBL Unveils its Next Star in RJ Hampton". NBL.com.au. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  4. "SKY Sport Unveiled As Naming Rights Partner". www.nzbreakers.basketball. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  5. "SKY Sport Unveiled As Naming Rights Partner". www.nzbreakers.basketball. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  6. "RJ Hampton to play in Christchurch as Breakers bring ANBL back to the city". Stuff. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  7. Price, Josh (11 October 2019). "Basketball: New Zealand Breakers provide value despite NBA thrashing". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  8. "Steven Adams: "Dan Shamir is a Smart Dude"". www.nzbreakers.basketball. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  9. "Glen Rice Jnr: The highly touted Breaker that didn't last two weeks". Stuff.co.nz. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  10. "Breakers Sign Glen Rice Jr as Injury Replacement". NBL.com.au. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  11. "Breakers recruit Glen Rice Jr arrested after bar incident". stuff.co.nz. 16 November 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  12. "Breakers Suspend Glen Rice Jr Indefinitely". NBL.com.au. 18 November 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  13. Long, David (19 November 2019). "Out-of-control NZ Breakers letting down loyal fans by setting bad examples". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  14. "Breakers boss confirms Tom Vodanovich mixed sleeping pills with alcohol on flight". Stuff.co.nz. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  15. "New Crowd Record Will Be Broken Against Hawks on Thursday". www.nzbreakers.basketball. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  16. "ANBL: Hampton v Ball match-up breaks viewing record". Newshub. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  17. Hinton, Marc (25 November 2019). "Corey Webster's injury, defensive woes leave Breakers' ANBL season on the brink". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  18. Hinton, Marc (7 December 2019). "NZ Breakers coach Dan Shamir has no regrets over Glen Rice Jr's hasty return". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  19. Waugh, Lachlan (9 December 2019). "Basketball: Troubled Breakers star Glen Rice Jr's contract ripped up after second arrest". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  20. "Breakers Turn Drama into Another Home Win". NBL.com.au. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  21. Hinton, Marc (10 December 2019). "NZ Breakers take important first step in healing process after Glen Rice Jr shambles". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  22. "Breakers Accept Buyout For Corey Webster". NBL.com.au. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  23. "Four wins in a row for resurgent New Zealand Breakers". Stuff.co.nz. 29 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  24. Hinton, Marc (8 February 2020). "Scotty Hopson, Finn Delany propel NZ Breakers past Brisbane in playoff push". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  25. "New Zealand Breakers' turbulent season ends without finals basketball". Stuff.co.nz. 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  26. "New Zealand Breakers, the team no-one wants to play in NBL playoffs". Stuff. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  27. "36ers add another home game to exciting pre-season schedule". www.adelaide36ers.com. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  28. "NBL Blitz Landing Page". landing.nbl.com.au. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  29. "NBL news: NBLxNBA NBA preseason games, NBA preseason, Los Angeles Clippers, schedule". Fox Sports. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  30. "National Basketball League | NBL". www.nbl.com.au. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  31. "Christchurch Games Announced for NBL Regular Season". www.nzbreakers.basketball. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  32. "2019–20 NBL Ladder | NBL". nbl.com.au. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
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