Basketball: Breakers hope depth of talent guards top spot
The Breakers are hopeful a couple of young Kiwis will keep them on top of the table while Tom Abercrombie is absent.
Friday's victory over Melbourne saw the Breakers (8-3) sneak ahead of rivals Perth (7-3) to lead the Australian NBL for the first time since their final championship.
And it was a result that arrived only hours after losing Abercrombie to a quad injury sustained during the pre-game shootaround.
The swingman is set to be on the sidelines for up to four weeks, meaning he'll miss home and away games against Sydney and, depending how his recovery progresses, potentially also the intriguing visit of Perth.
But the way the Breakers accounted for Abercrombie's late withdrawal suggested the club could extend their current four-game winning streak while the Tall Black rests up.
With Reuben Te Rangi entering the starting lineup and Duane Bailey playing more minutes off the bench, those further down the depth chart will now enjoy the chance to excel.
The back-end of the Breakers' roster appeared a strength when the squad were assembled in the offseason, and those on the bench have come up with notable contributions throughout the first six weeks of the season.
It was no different on Friday night, when the Breakers barely missed a trick without Abercrombie.
Te Rangi earned the start - just as he did when Abercrombie was recovering from hernia surgery at the start of the season - and played a team-high 34 minutes.
Bailey, meanwhile, turned in his best performance of the campaign, scoring nine points and pulling down six boards.
"Reuben and Duane came in and did a great job for [Abercrombie]," said Corey Webster, whose 25 points accounted for any offensive deficiencies. "Duane was bringing the high energy, was in there rebounding, making good cuts to the basket, and Reuben had solid minutes. So that was the biggest thing coming from it."
Dean Vickerman contacted Te Rangi and Bailey, both products of the club's academy, as soon as Abercrombie's scan revealed the bad news, and the coach was more than content with the way the pair affected the game.
"They were good spark, both of them," Vickerman said. "Duane had a good little patch there, really sparked the group up in the second quarter. And playing Reuben 34 minutes, I thought he was pretty solid defensively all night, he just needs to buy a couple of shots and get himself rolling."
The schedule also helps the Breakers while Abercrombie is out, with the next two-game week not arriving until mid-December. All told, the club should be in strong position before a hectic pre-Christmas period, especially if Webster is correct in his belief that there is much more to come.
"I think we can still bring more," Webster said. "If we can be more consistent throughout the whole 48 minutes then we're going to be hard to stop.
"Obviously there's room for improvement but we're on a pretty good roll right now and we've got to keep it going."