Preview of NBL23 Championship Series and the match-up that could decide title

It has been 12 days since they qualified for the NBL Championship Series and now on Friday night (7.30pm AEDT) the Sydney Kings and New Zealand Breakers begin what looms as a fascinating best-of-five battle for the NBL23 title.

The near two-week break from the end of the semi-final series to the Championship Series was a little unfortunate albeit unavoidable thanks to the last FIBA window ahead of this year’s World Cup but now the wait is over, and it’s set to be a tremendous contest.

The Kings and Breakers have been the best two teams all season in the NBL, they finished the regular season in first and second place, and then booked in their spots for the Championship Series by winning their respective semi-final Game 3’s on their home floors two Sundays ago.

It is now all set up to be quite the tantalising Championship Series match up with Game 1 on Friday night at Qudos Bank Arena. Game 2 is already sold out on Sunday at Auckland’s Spark Arena.

Game 3 will be in Sydney next Friday, Game 4 in Auckland the following Sunday and if required, the deciding Game 5 will be in Sydney on Wednesday March 15.

Who the teams are

The Sydney Kings are the reigning NBL champions and they backed it up by claiming the regular season championship this season to come into the Championship Series as the favourites to make it back-to-back titles.

While the Kings are the reigning champions, they had significant turnover from last season and it all started with the departure of their three imports. That included reigning MVP Jaylen Adams along with NBL and NBA champion Ian Clark, and standout big man Jarrell Martin.

Coming in and the Kings must be commended for finding a new point guard in Derrick Walton Jr who was named to the All-First Team. Justin Simon has been the standout NBL defender this season and a bundle of energy at both ends with Tim Soares holding his own in the centre position.

You then have Kings captain Xavier Cooks who has gone to another level this season to be named the league’s MVP while they are the deepest team in the competition with DJ Vasiljevic, Jordan Hunter, Jaylin Galloway, Kouat Noi, Shaun Bruce and Angus Glover all key contributors.

The Kings are coached by American Chase Buford who is attempting to win a second championship in his two seasons coaching in the NBL while the Kings are looking for a fifth title overall to go with their triumphs in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2022.

It’s been quite the ride for the New Zealand Breakers since they were the benchmark franchise of the competition between 2011 and 2016. In that period they not only won four of the five NBL championships but were also highly successful off the court.

However, since then they have had a change in ownership and management, and that hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Throw in the last two years where they were ravaged and homeless thanks to COVID, and it was very much a start again process coming into NBL23.

That began with a new coach with assistant Mody Maor taking over from Dan Shamir and it was almost a complete overhaul of the playing roster with only Tom Abercrombie, Will McDowell-White and Rob Loe back.

The Breakers have got all their decisions right and that begins with coach Maor who ended up being runner-up in Coach of the Year voting.

Nailing their import signings has been crucial for the Breakers with Dererk Pardon making the All-Second Team as the centre, Jarrell Brantley a standout power forward and Barry Brown Jr as the leading scorer across the two teams in the Championship Series.

It’s been all about building a team defensively minded and putting culture first, which is where bringing back Kiwis Tom Vodanovich and Izayah Le’afa was important along with adding veteran Cam Gliddon and then topping it off with exciting 18-year-old French Next Star Rayan Rupert.

With Will McDowell-White running the ship and turning himself into the standout point guard he’s always promised to be, and it’s quite the impressive Breakers outfit who are now in their first Championship Series since 2016, and attempting to win a first title since 2015, and fifth overall.

How they got here

The Sydney Kings wrapped up the regular season championship a couple of weeks out from the end of the season itself and proved themselves the standout team in the competition on the back of winning last season’s championship.

The Kings finished a game clear in first place on the back of a 19-9 record which saw them winning 10 of 14 matches at Qudos Bank Arena, and winning nine of the 14 on the road including a seven-game winning streak before losing four of the last six matches of the regular season.

That earned the Kings the right to sit back to wait to find out who they would meet in the semi finals which eventually was the Cairns Taipans. Sydney prevailed in Game 1 at home 95-87 but it was a different story in Game 2 in Cairns with the Taipans winning 93-82.

Kings coach Chase Buford was ejected, centre Tim Soares ended up fined for a late shoulder charge and MVP Xavier Cooks hurt his ankle. However, Sydney bounced back in Game 3 with their depth and freshness shining in the 79-64 home win to book in their Championship Series berth.

The New Zealand Breakers hadn’t take part in an NBL finals series since 2018 but it quickly emerged they would be a force to be reckoned with in NBL23. They ended up locking away second position on the back of winning the last five matches of the regular season.

Interestingly, New Zealand won just seven of the 14 matches at home throughout the season but were superb throughout Australia winning 11 of 14 road games.

That meant the Breakers were waiting to take on the Tasmania JackJumpers in the semi finals after they defeated the Cairns Taipans to get there.

New Zealand dominated Game 1 at Spark Arena 88-68 to put the pressure back on the JackJumpers, but Tasmania was terrific at MyState Bank Arena winning 89-78 to force a Game 3.

The Breakers proved too strong in that decider on their home floor to win 92-77 with Barry Brown Jr the star putting up his highest score of the season with 32 points.

What the key match-ups are

Tim Soares v Dererk Pardon – Both import centres are new to the league this season and have had a considerable impact. Soares has been a solid performer for the Kings teaming up with Xavier Cooks up front and being a sound defender, solid rebounder and a good offensive threat with a nice outside shot. Then you have Pardon at the Breakers and he deserves to be called the best genuine centre in the NBL. He does the things of a traditional centre by rebounding at both ends, finishing around the rim, setting heavy screens and being a shot blocking presence. He offers plenty more than that too and his ability to set the tone physically will be key to this series and what impact Soares can have to quell his influence will be pivotal.

Xavier Cooks v Jarrell Brantley – This power forward match up above all others could very well determine the NBL championship. Cooks is the MVP of the league on the back of captaining Sydney to last season’s championship and being Grand Final MVP. Brantley is in his first season at the Breakers but has been superb. He can play with physicality, with athleticism and is a terrific defensive presence and a great all-round offensive threat with moves around the basket and shooting ability. They are similar physical presences too so it’s going to be a truly fascinating match up and the numbers back that up. Cooks averages 16.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists on 58.9 per cent field goal shooting with Brantley putting up 16.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists on 46.8 per cent shooting.

Justin Simon v Tom Abercrombie – Neither man is going to jump off the page and score a lot of points or put up huge numbers that grab the headlines, and nor will they match up on one another too much. But that doesn’t mean their role isn’t going to be pivotal on who ends up winning the series. Both can contribute offensively, but it’s at the defensive end where their true importance lies and who they get sent to for the majority of time is going to be equally curious. Simon is a previous Best Defensive Player and perhaps should have been this season. He delivered the best individual defensive performance of the season in Game 3 against Cairns on DJ Hogg and now it looks likely his coach Chase Buford will send him to try and quell the influence of New Zealand’s hot scorer Barry Brown Jr. Abercrombie is the Breakers captain and already an all-time great leading his franchise in most categories including games played and points scored. He remains a standout defender and he likely will be set to try and make life difficult for Kings point guard Derrick Walton Jr. Who is most successful in their defensive job will be critical in who ends up getting a ring.

DJ Vasiljevic v Barry Brown Jr – Again these two might not spend too much time on one another with the Kings likely to use Justin Simon on Brown Jr and Rayan Rupert could spend significant time on Vasiljevic. But either way they are the go-to shooters and scorers for their respective team. When the Kings need a big time basket and someone to dig them out of a hole, it’s the outside shooting of Vasiljevic they look to. And he’s a proven big time performer. Then there’s Brown and this Breakers team is built for their defence but it’s him who is their true offensive weapon highlighted by 32 points in Game 3 against Tasmania. Vasiljevic has had an up and down season but is averaging 14.0 points on 41.2 per cent shooting and 36.9 from downtown, but he did have 42 points and 10 threes against the Phoenix. Brown is averaging 19.7 points on shooting 46.8 per cent overall and 35.7 from three-point range. Who can get hot throughout the series will have a big say in the final result.

Derrick Walton Jr v Will McDowell-White – Well what a battle of two high-class point guards we are going to have. Both are terrific playmakers and floor generals for their team, both are tremendous at setting up their team and finding shots for their teammates, and both can score themselves when needed. After all, Walton Jr did put up 45 points against the South East Melbourne Phoenix and McDowell-White has a season-high of 29 against Cairns. Walton has been tremendous replacing MVP Jaylen Adams as Sydney’s point guard. He was named to the All-First Team averaging 16.5 points and 6.3 assists a game on 47.3 per cent field goal shooting and 36.4 per cent from deep. McDowell-White has had the best season of his NBL career reaching the promise he’s always had averaging 10.3 points, 6.0 assists and 4.9 rebounds on shooting 40.6 per cent overall and 29.1 per cent from long-range.

Jordan Hunter/Kouat Noi/Jaylin Galloway/Angus Glover/Shaun Bruce v Rob Loe/Tom Vodanovich/Cam Gliddon/Rayan Rupert/Izayah Le’afa – A big reason why these two teams are in the Championship Series is because of their depth and the fact they don’t lose anything going into their bench, and indeed receive a punch. The Kings have Jordan Hunter to back up Tim Soares while Kouat Noi and Jaylin Galloway are versatile enough to give a chop out in either forward spots and then there’s the experience and quality of Angus Glover an Shaun Bruce in the guard spots. The Breakers bench is strong too and technically Rayan Rupert will be a starter, but Barry Brown Jr will play more minutes in that two spot. Rupert will still be important with his length and impact he can have defensively. Rob Loe will be important backing up Dererk Pardon while Tom Vodanovich and Cam Gliddon offer hardness and experience, and then Izayah Le’afa is another weapon they have as a guard who can score, run the offence and defend.

Final words from the captains

Sydney Kings captain and reigning league MVP and last season’s Grand Final MVP Xavier Cooks might be feeling nervous coming into the Championship Series, but at the same time is confident of getting those three wins.

“Not many players get the chance to go for a championship so to have the chance to go back-to-back is pretty special, but right now it’s about this team and trying to get over the line,” Cooks said.

“I feel like we’ve had pressure on us all season long. Since the season started, we’ve had a target on our back being the reigning champs and everyone’s tried to come at us. We’ve stood our ground so far.

“Personally I am just as nervous compared with last year, but I feel more prepared. I know what it takes to get over the line and I know how much effort it takes to get over the line. Hopefully I can try and convey that for the new guys coming in, but I am kinda nervous.

“I am very nervous and I throw up before most games and I’m a nervous wreck, but that’s what basketball is about and it all comes down to this. It’s three more wins and you win a championship.”

Breakers captain and four-time NBL champion and 2011 Grand Final MVP Tom Abercrombie never thought he’d be back in this position to compete for another championship, but is excited for the opportunity ahead.

“It feels like it’s been an eternity waiting these last couple of weeks but we’re pumped to get Game 1 underway and get this series started,” Abercrombie said.

“Obviously Game 1 is really important and you want to come out and set the tone for the series, and play the right way. We’re under no illusions about the challenge in front of us against the best team all season long, and the defending champs. We’ll have to bring our absolute best to beat them.

“The time for reflection will come but you do think back a little bit on what we’ve been through the last couple of years and all the adversity.

“It’s wonderful to be back in this position and to be playing with a team and a group of people who are about the right things, and gone about things the right way. It’s awesome that we’ve been rewarded for our hard work with a chance to go for another championship.

“Everyone has a little bit of a chip on their shoulder with something to prove and that’s made us a very tough, and resilient group.”