Basketball: Breakers have recipe for success - CEO

Breakers chief executive Lisa Edser has heard the negativity about the Breakers going into the new NBL season, which tips off on 19 September.

She knows people don't like change.

With a new coach, new captains and a raft of new faces on the roster the basketball club still expects success but isn't hiding from the hurdles it will need to cross to get back into the finals series after finishing the last regular season in sixth place.

Edser wants to reassure the doubters.

"Whilst everybody is new you know the ingredients are there so it's just a matter of mixing it all up right and there is a little bit of hope for the best but if you go out looking for what you know works and fits with you then I think you're already on your way to success."

Off-season shake up

At the end of last season Breakers captain Tom Abercrombie retired after playing 16 seasons for his hometown club.

Abercrombie's decision was not a surprise to the Breakers but what was surprising was the departure of coach Mody Maor three months later.

Maor left in May with a year still remaining on his contract. The lure of a coaching role in Japan won him over.

Including Abercrombie, 12 players from last season have also moved on.

Edser says the turnover in talent wasn't intentional.

The club would fight for the players it wanted to keep but Edser says it was not standing in anyone's way if they want to go.

"If someone's mentally checked out I think that you're fooling yourself if you think you can re-engage them."

Before leaving Maor had already helped lock in American import Parker Jackson-Cartwright for a second season. Jackson-Cartwright never wavered in his commitment after Maor left.

"If he wanted to absolutely he could have got out of his contract but it never came up it wasn't a consideration and I think that is just testament to the fact that he trusts in what we do and took that gamble or risk with us but he has absolutely no doubts now.

"He is such a dynamic and exciting player the opportunities for him globally are significantly more for him financially than we can offer but for Parker it came down to how he felt about being a Breaker and Mody was a really big part of that so there were absolutely conversations because it was very important that he was on board with what we were doing and what we were looking at in terms of coaching staff.

"We wanted to make sure that he felt that he was still coming to the same place that he signed up to come along to."

Jackson-Cartwright returns as a co-captain with new signing Mitch McCarron.

Coach Kop

Signing Petteri Koponen 'Coach Kop' to replace Maor was a "calculated risk" according to Edser.

Koponen retired from playing international basketball two years ago.

The 36-year-old from Finland has signed a two-year contract as head coach, with a third-year option.

He joins the Breakers after his gig as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

"You could look at him and say how on earth is he going to fit into the environment at the Breakers he hasn't for many got what they would see as perhaps a depth of coaching, he hasn't been on this side of the world et cetera but I've spent four weeks with him now and he is exactly the kind of person I love to be around he's honest, he's funny, he's dedicated, he's driven, he cares about people, he is a good coach but he's also a great person so together those things are wonderful.

"He respects who we are and what are our goals are."

Edser can see a link between Koponen and his predecessors.

"Dan Shamir and Mody Maor they both came in with a lot of coaching experience but no experience of the NBL and they both said it was so different to what they were used to so that was part of the confidence we had is knowing that even they had come from a higher level of perhaps experience but they found it was still very challenging because the league is different.

"So with Kop he's had European league coaching, so had Mody and Dan, so those challenges were going to be similar for him as well."

The return of assistant Daniel Sokolovsky will help guide Koponen on some of the quirks of the Australian league.

Edser was impressed with Koponen's dedication to learning more about the NBL before he'd arrived in New Zealand.

"He'd been reviewing film he'd been looking at the style of play he'd been looking at the other teams already and I guess that is second nature for them so within the two months he's had to look at it he's got a very good understanding of what the differences are.

"Translating that to the guys down on the court and then how we perform obviously takes a little bit longer but I'm pretty sure after this week at the Blitz [pre-season tournament] that he'll be well across how everything works."

Edser said other teams have recruited strongly but the Breakers shouldn't be written off.

"I don't think we should underestimate the strength of the Breakers either we are unique in many ways and I know many people would question me saying this when I say the Kiwi way is quite different because sure we're not strongly Kiwi-based in terms of personnel but the people who work here buy into the ethos of the New Zealand Breakers so whilst they may not be born a New Zealander when they sign their contract here they're a temporary Kiwi for the whole time that they are here.

"Whilst there has been change the expectation that we're going to be up the top doesn't go away, definitely top four - I'd love to see us in the top two."

NBA tour

The Breakers were the last team left propping up the NBA NBL crossover concept.

First introduced eight years ago, the Breakers have played five games in the United States and will be the only NBL team heading stateside this season.

The Auckland-based club will squeeze in three games against NBA opposition - playing the Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder - over the course of a couple of weeks in October during the NBL season.

The game against the 76ers in owner Matt Walsh's hometown was a late addition to the schedule but one that despite NBA clubs planning pre-season eight years in advance the Breakers were able secure.

With owners and sponsors based in America the NBA games are important to the Breakers and are built into the budget.

Other NBL teams had baulked at the cost of sending their players on tour but Edser believes the benefits outweigh the cost to the club.

"Not only for the opportunity it gives the guys but for us it is about getting our brand out to the biggest basketball audience in the world, to having NBA hopefuls recognising our league as a pathway if they don't make it into the fringe NBA stuff and they're choosing to come here and play with us rather than perhaps going to Europe that's a huge success story for us from what we do over in the States so those kinds of investments really matter to [the owners] so that allows us to keep pushing forward even though ticket revenue isn't there."

Yes, in an ideal world the NBA games would be played in the NBL pre-season Edser says rather than missing two early rounds of the season.

"It's something we think about each season before we commit to doing it we will absolutely re-think it after this trip once we does it have an effect or not.

"People will argue with me all day long that we're adding on extra pressure, extra travel, we have back-to-backs when we get back but I argue that if we go into it with the right mindset it's just part of our season and therefore there shouldn't be a great deal of negativity around it."

A new head of performance means the Breakers will be monitoring the players differently this season including during their American tour - something Edser a self-proclaimed data freak is eager to see the results of.

"So we can truly see does it effect performance or is it a mental game because if it is adversely effecting the athlete performance that's a whole different kettle of fish to just saying ugh I don't want to travel.

"You can look out the window at training and say gosh the guys look tired but what does that mean?

"Have they had a late night or have we worked them too hard and there is lots of different ways to measure it but this season we have put a little bit more investment into actually having a number of tools that will complement each other so that it's not just about where is their heart-rate or how hard we worked them and we have a force plate system that measures the load on the guys' joints so when you add that up with what their heart is doing and what this is doing and how their sleeping you get some any different measureables.

"It helps that I love that stuff because it's the way that I can understand what's going on with guys because I am not a basketball aficionado by any stretch of the imagination, I don't need to be because everybody else is, but if I do want to have input I want it to be coming from a place of science than just my gut feel."

Fans will come back

Breakers' game day attendance is still lower than what it was pre-Covid.

Edser was aware "there's an economic crisis out there".

"You have to know that's going to effect you in sport particularly. If you've got some money to spend and the difference is a little bit more food on the table or the kids need shoes obviously we want you choosing the right thing for your family so we know that attendance will be down but I don't that it's the fact people don't want to come I think it's that people just can't afford it right now.

"I do feel that [fans] will come back it is just a reflection of where we are economically and things change and I am sure the crowds will come back."

While money was flowing in global basketball the Breakers' owners were making up the shortfall that might normally come from ticket sales to keep the club going.

"We're incredibly fortunate that Matt and the ownership group have a long term vision so in the short term whilst we may not financially be in an ideal position they are committed to making sure the Breakers stay around and grow so they are contributing more capital into the club."

There will be some competition for Auckland sports fans this season with Auckland FC entering football's A-League.

Edser was looking forward to the growth of live sport in the city despite knowing some people might head to Mt Smart rather than Spark Arena.

"The timing of their season is right on top of ours, we shared our schedule and said if they have any influence lets not clash we do clash a couple of times... but there will be the diehard basketball fans and the diehard football fans and then I think the fringe fans will try a little bit of both and see which suits them.

"So we've factored that in we're aware of it ideally we can work together as two different sports and kind of buddy up or partner together on different things."

The Breakers will play against the Tasmania JackJumpers on Christmas Day in Hobart - a concept Edser says suits the Australians and Americans (in the NBA) but might be harder to sell in New Zealand.

"I can't imagine a New Zealand audience going to a game on Christmas Day, I could be completely wrong, but we haven't had to do it for a number of years so it is our turn again."

Back on free TV

A return to free to air television is a "dream" Edser has had since she took on the role.

All Breakers regular season games will be available live on TVNZ+, as well as being broadcast on TVNZ channels. Games will also still be available on ESPN via Sky Television.

"Sport on free to air in New Zealand is challenging ... it's a one-year deal at this stage and I guess it has come about off a set somewhat not ideal circumstances but the opportunity is exceptional and we have to look at maximising this one year of opportunity we've got with TVNZ and hopefully together we can make the partnership successful so that they're in a position to look at perhaps bidding for it in the next round of renewals."

However, in the future Edser and the other NBL clubs want greater input into the broadcast deal that sits with the league to negotiate.

"It kind of makes or breaks us in many ways so there is a lot of conversation about we haven't been able to have a lot of input into it up until now but how as clubs can we influence moving forwards so that we can become like many of the other leagues around the world and have actually revenue coming to us from broadcast which isn't the case at the moment.

"AFL I believe they get something like 40 percent of their revenue from broadcast we get zero at the moment."