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
Stadium	Spark Arena, Auckland
NBL results
Ladder	6th
Finals	DNQ
Wins	15
Losses	13
Player Records
Scoring leader	Corey Webster 19.6
Rebounding leader	Brandon Ashley 6.5
Assists leader	Scotty Hopson 4.7
Uniforms
Home Away
All statistics correct as of 21 April 2020.

Season summary

Dan Shamir

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
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. 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 Dan Shamir Assistant coach(es) Zico Coronel Modi Maor Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (IN) Inactive (I) Import player (NS) Next Star player Injured Roster 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
Ladder	Information
Pos. Nat. Name Pld. W. L. Last 5 Streak Home Away For Against Pts % 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
NBL Blitz: 1–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record 1 20 September Melbourne United W 76-97 Corey Webster (24) Robert Loe (7) Corey Webster (5) Kingborough Sports Centre 1-0 2 22 September South East Melbourne Phoenix L 102-95 R. J. Hampton (20) R. J. Hampton, Chris Obekpa (5) Scotty Hopson (4) Derwent Entertainment Centre 1-1
Pre-season: 0–2 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record 1 24 September @ Adelaide 36ers L 93-67 R. J. Hampton (19) Rob Loe (9) R. J. Hampton (3) Titanium Security Arena 0-1 2 26 September @ Sydney Kings L 81-64 R. J. Hampton (18) Ethan Rusbatch (11) R. J. Hampton (7) Sydney Uni Sports & Aquatic Centre 0-2
NBLxNBA: 0–2 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record 1 8 October @ Memphis Grizzlies L 108-94 Corey Webster (19) Scotty Hopson (8) Corey Webster (8) FedExForum 0-3 2 10 October @ Oklahoma City Thunder L 84-110 Rob Loe (19) Scotty Hopson, Ater Majok (6) R. J. Hampton, Sek Henry (5) Chesapeake Energy Arena 0-4

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
Ladder	Information
Pos. Nat. Name Pld. W. L. Last 5 Streak Home Away For Against Pts % 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	–	8	4	4	5	6	6	5	5	6	4	5	5	5	5	7	7	7	7	7
Brisbane Bullets	2	4	5	5	4	5	5	6	7	7	7	7	8	7	6	5	4	4	5	5
Cairns Taipans	7	7	6	6	8	8	7	7	6	4	6	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3
Illawarra Hawks	6	5	7	9	9	9	9	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Melbourne United	5	6	8	8	6	4	3	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	5	6	6	4
New Zealand Breakers	–	–	9	7	7	7	8	9	8	8	8	8	7	6	8	6	6	5	4	6
Perth Wildcats	4	2	3	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
South East Melbourne Phoenix	3	3	2	3	3	2	4	4	3	5	5	6	6	8	7	8	8	8	8	8
Sydney Kings	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Game log

2019–20 season game log
October: 2–3 (Home: 2–1; Road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record 1 18 October @ Sydney Kings L 96-91 Scotty Hopson (27) Thomas Abercrombie (11) Scotty Hopson, Corey Webster (3) Qudos Bank Arena 0-1 2 20 October Sydney Kings L 66-76 Corey Webster (14) Brandon Ashley, Robert Loe (8) Scotty Hopson (4) Spark Arena 0-2 3 24 October Illawarra Hawks W 103-72 Sek Henry (21) Scotty Hopson (9) Corey Webster (6) Spark Arena 1-2 4 26 October @ Melbourne United L 104-98 Brandon Ashley (24) Thomas Abercrombie (8) Corey Webster 6 Melbourne Arena 1-3 5 31 October Cairns Taipans W 93-85 Corey Webster (23) Brandon Ashley (11) Corey Webster (8) Spark Arena 2-3
November: 1–5 (Home: 1–2; Road: 0–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record 6 3 November Perth Wildcats L 79-84 Brandon Ashley, Corey Webster (21) R. J. Hampton (7) Corey Webster (6) iLT Stadium Southland 2-4 7 7 November Melbourne United L 101-104 Glen Rice Jr. (26) Brandon Ashley, Corey Webster (8) Corey Webster (4) Spark Arena 2-5 8 9 November @ South East Melbourne Phoenix L 103-78 Corey Webster (22) Brandon Ashley (12) Sek Henry (8) Melbourne Arena 2-6 9 17 November @ Perth Wildcats L 88-77 Corey Webster (23) Brandon Ashley, Corey Webster (7) R. J. Hampton (5) RAC Arena 2-7 10 24 November @ Adelaide 36ers L 117-100 Sek Henry (18) Brandon Ashley (8) R. J. Hampton (6) Adelaide Entertainment Centre 2-8 11 30 November Illawarra Hawks W 91-79 Sek Henry (25) Brandon Ashley (14) Sek Henry (3) Spark Arena 3-8
December: 5–2 (Home: 2–1; Road: 3–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record 12 6 December @ Cairns Taipans L 108-90 Glen Rice Jr. (30) Glen Rice Jr. (12) Glen Rice Jr. (8) Cairns Convention Centre 3-9 13 9 December Brisbane Bullets W 96-85 Corey Webster (23) Finn Delany (8) Finn Delany, Corey Webster (3) Spark Arena 4-9 14 15 December Adelaide 36ers L 96-99 Thomas Abercrombie (22) Thomas Abercrombie (9) Scotty Hopson (6) Spark Arena 4-10 15 20 December South East Melbourne Phoenix W 90-84 Scotty Hopson (24) Scotty Hopson (9) Sek Henry (4) Horncastle Arena 5-10 16 22 December @ Illawarra Hawks W 89-91 Scotty Hopson (19) Scotty Hopson (7) Sek Henry (6) WIN Entertainment Centre 6-10 17 27 December @ Brisbane Bullets W 96-99 Scotty Hopson (27) Brandon Ashley, Finn Delany (7) Sek Henry, Scotty Hopson (4) Nissan Arena 7-10 18 29 December @ Adelaide 36ers W 87-96 Scotty Hopson (31) Brandon Ashley (9) Sek Henry (8) Adelaide Entertainment Centre 8-10
January: 4–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record 19 5 January @ South East Melbourne Phoenix W 92-97 Thomas Abercrombie (24) Robert Loe (7) Scotty Hopson (6) State Basketball Centre 9-10 20 9 January @ Cairns Taipans L 85-79 Robert Loe (24) Abercrombie, Loe, Hopson (7) Hopson (8) Cairns Convention Centre 9-11 21 12 January Brisbane Bullets L 85-95 Thomas Abercrombie, Sek Henry (17) Finn Delany (6) Scotty Hopson (6) Spark Arena 9-12 22 17 January Sydney Kings W 86-81 Scotty Hopson (30) Finn Delany (13) Scotty Hopson (5) TSB Stadium 10-12 23 19 January Melbourne United W 90-68 Scotty Hopson (22) Finn Delany (10) Thomas Abercrombie (5) Spark Arena 11-12 24 25 January @ Perth Wildcats L 90-89 Brandon Ashley (21) Brandon Ashley (11) Scotty Hopson, Jarrad Weeks (5) RAC Arena 11-13 25 31 January Adelaide 36ers W 113-89 Thomas Abercrombie (31) Finn Delany (10) Sek Henry (8) Spark Arena 12-13
February: 3–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Record 26 2 February @ Illawarra Hawks W 56-65 Sek Henry (17) Finn Delany (6) Scotty Hopson (9) WIN Entertainment Centre 13-13 27 7 February @ Brisbane Bullets W 87-91 Scotty Hopson (31) Finn Delany (12) Sek Henry (5) Nissan Arena 14-13 28 14 February South East Melbourne Phoenix W 92-83 Scotty Hopson (23) Abercrombie, Ashley, Loe, Hopson (5) Scotty Hopson (10) Spark Arena 15-13

Awards

Player of the Week

Round 12, Scotty Hopson

Round 16, Scotty Hopson

See also

• 2019–20 NBL season
• New Zealand Breakers

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.

External links

• Official Website