NBL Round 12

New Zealand v Sydney

The Breakers host the Kings, 4th vs 1st.  Both teams will look to start a winning streak.  The Breakers will have one import for this game.

New import Orien Greene will make his debut for the Breakers tonight.  A 6 foot 4 point guard who (from reports) is very athletic, he may need time to adjust as this is his first time playing outside of the US.  The Breakers other import, Rick Rickert, is still unavailable through injury (bulging disc in lower back).  They managed to defeat the South Dragons at home last Thursday without any imports (after losing to Cairns on their home floor in round 10).  They had 4 players score in double figures, Kirk Penney (24), Phill Jones (18), Tony Ronaldson and Oscar Foreman (17).  They would need to rebound well to compete the with Kings.  They will also need an inside presence offensively.  Greene may be able to create enough openings for his team mates for this to be the case.

The Kings defeated the Tigers in Melbourne last Saturday after being upset by the in-form Perth on their home floor 3 days earlier.  Import Dontaye Draper continued his impressive form with 23 points against the Tigers.  His match up against Greene I believe will be the key to this game.  If he can contain him, the Kings will be too good in the end.  With the good chance that he has not seen too much of him play before, this could be easier said than done.

The Kings look a touch short.  Without seeing Greene play myself, I am just going to sit back and observe.  He has an impressive resume.  There have been numerous imports in the past that have come here with a really good reputation and have been role players at best.  The total looks a touch high to me.  Given how high scoring recent games involving New Zealand have been, it is hard to argue with and I will leave this alone.