'Arrogant' NZ Breakers Fire Up Perth Wildcats

The perceived arrogance of reigning champions New Zealand will serve as a major motivating factor for the Perth Wildcats today in the opening game of the best-of-three NBL grand final series at Vector Arena.

'Arrogant' Breakers fire up Wildcats

The Wildcats were incensed by the Breakers' exuberant celebrations in the immediate aftermath of their last meeting in round 22 at Challenge Stadium, and coach Rob Beveridge has used video footage of the incident to fire up his players this week.

New Zealand's home-and-away wins over Perth in last season's semifinal series, which included a sensational 38-point haul from former Breakers star Kirk Penney in game two, also left a sour taste in the Wildcats' mouths.

"We've showed vision of them celebrating on our court and how cocky they are at times," Beveridge said.

"That there is a driving force for us. I just think it was a little bit arrogant the way they carried on after the games.

"I think you've got to be gracious in defeat and humble when you win.

"That's how I was brought up and they definitely didn't show that."

Wildcats co-captain Shawn Red-hage said his team was the underdog against a New Zealand side that has won 23 of 31 games this season.

The Breakers finished on top of the ladder for the second consecutive year and bounced back from a shock series-opening loss to Townsville to win their semifinal tie in three games.

Redhage admitted the round-22 clash, in which New Zealand beat Perth 101-99 in overtime, remained fresh in the memory.

"They were the top team all year and beat us on our home court," Redhage said.

"They celebrated nicely, so we'll remember that, and we're ready to go back over there (to Auckland).

"It's a tough place to play, they've got a great team, they know their roles and they're going to be ready for us.

"Any time someone comes to Perth and gets a win, those teams are usually pretty excited because it doesn't happen too often.
"Hopefully, we can exact revenge and get a win over there."

Talented New Zealand swingman Tom Abercrombie faces a final fitness test today after injuring his left ankle during the win over Townsville.

Breakers forward Gary Wilkinson is delighted that his side has the opportunity to defend last year's championship against the Wildcats.

"It's going to be a battle and I love playing against them," Wilkinson said.
"They come out hard every night and it's just a good feeling when we win because you know you've worked hard for it."

Tickets for game two of the grand final series at Challenge Stadium tomorrow week are available through Ticketmaster.

Perth Enter 26th Straight NBL finals

Perth coach Rob Beveridge believes the Wildcats can claim to be arguably the most successful sporting organisation in the world after making the NBL playoffs for a staggering 26th successive season.

The order of the top four was finalised on Friday, when minor premier and defending champion New Zealand scored a 76-69 away win over Townsville (15-13), which ensured the Crocs finished fourth and would meet NZ again in the semi-finals.

Their best of three series starts in Auckland next Friday and continues in Townsville on April 5, with a potential game three decider pencilled in for Vector Arena two days later.


Second-placed Perth (19-9) will host Gold Coast in game one of their series next Sunday, with the teams to meet on the Gold Coast three days later, with a possible decider scheduled for April 7 at Challenge Stadium.

None of the other three semi-finalists had even started up the last time Perth missed the playoffs in 1986.

"I'm not too huge on the facts, but apparently we may be the most successful team in the entire world in sporting organisations in making finals 26 years in a row," Beveridge told AAP.
He will have both Matt Knight and Cam Tovey back from injury for game one.

Beveridge said his team couldn't have asked for a better preparation for the playoffs than the tough 72-71 away win at Melbourne (11-17).

Keen to maintain Perth's reputation for defensive excellence, Beveridge wants to fine tune their offence.

"I just feel at times we get too bogged down offensively, so we've got to have better ball movement better flow and play a lot more freely," Beveridge said.

He is wary of Gold Coast, who beat the Wildcats 2-1 in their season head-to-head split, with the home team winning each game.

Townsville lost all three regular season games to the Breakers and Crocs' coach Paul Woolpert concedes New Zealand may have a psychological advantage.

"I think there could be, but I think we're pretty confident that we'll come up with a game plan and hopefully execute it," Woolpert said.

He identified two areas his team needed to improve in heading into the finals against a Breakers side he believes has no weaknesses.

"We need to limit our turnovers and we need to rebound the basketball better than we have throughout the season," Woolpert said.

"They are a hell of a basketball team. We've got our work cut out for us, but we're looking forward to the challenge."

Adelaide (8-20) finished with the wooden spoon for the second time in three seasons after losing 79-75 to Cairns (15-13) and 92-78 to Wollongong (9-19).

Wollongong won 77-68 the previous night at Sydney (11-17).

Gold Coast (17-11) completed a confidence boosting home 94-71 home win over New Zealand (21-7).

The Breakers were scorched by a Blaze team that shot at 63 per cent from three-point territory.

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