The New Zealand Breakers have plenty up their sleeve but they will need every last hidden ace after a disappointing finish to their pre-season campaign.
The Breakers won three out of their four warm-up matches but only managed one win out of three in the Sunshine State Challenge in Queensland.
Some leaky outside defence and a sluggish start to the third quarter enabled the Gold Coast Blaze to beat them 107-100 in Brisbane on Saturday. The teams meet again in their season openers on October 7.
The Breakers still have a few weeks to bridge the gap and will need the extra time together after coming together late. But assistant coach Dean Vickerman, while not happy conceding 107 points, believed the team showed promise.
"We'll go away and come back with some different strategies to defend them," he said.
"You don't want to show all your cards in the pre-season."
"We weren't happy with it. But it wasn't a game we scouted heavily. Obviously, they are the first team we play in the league and we didn't really want to go ahead and give too much away."
The Breakers had only been together about a week before the tournament with so many of the squad involved in the Tall Blacks' campaign and coach Andrej Lemanis busy in his other role as Australian assistant coach.
"We are always behind at this time of the year because of the amount of people we have competing during the international calendar," Vickerman said.
"We only have 70 to 75% of our defensive system in place right now and maybe 35 to 40% of our offensive system. It probably won't be until mid-season before we get really going. There is a lot of improvement to come."
Vickerman said the Breakers had lost focus after the halftime break which allowed the Blaze to hit some shots and build a lead.
The Breakers were missing some experienced campaigners. CJ Bruton and Dillon Boucher sat out the match to rest injuries. Both are expected to be fit for October 7.
While their skills were missed, it allowed the Breakers to try a few different combinations.
"Some of the young kids got to play a whole lot - Dion Prewster and Josh Bloxham - and Leon [Henry] and BJ [Anthony] played a lot more minutes. I thought they really stepped into their role really well. So that was really encouraging."
New import Cedric Jackson had a mixed tournament. He struggled with his shooting but his passing and defence was outstanding.
"It is going to take some time for Cedric to understand the league to really fit in. But we know what he is capable of and how he fits into our team and our culture. So he can be more productive for us once we all understand how to use his speed and athleticism better."
On Saturday the Breakers started well through centre Gary Wilkinson, who slammed a one-handed dunk and drilled two three-pointers in a hot first quarter which saw the American notch 13 points.
Adam Gibson responded for the Blaze with nine points in the opening period and Mark Worthington hit a long three to cut the gap to three on the buzzer.
The Breakers' one-goal lead disappeared with two three-pointers from Gibson in the opening moments of the second half.
Gibson hit two three-pointers early in the third quarter which proved to be the turning point in the game.
The scores:-
Basketball pre-season
• Gold Coast Blaze 107
Mark Worthington 26, Adam Gibson 22, Will Hudson 21
• New Zealand Breakers 100
Gary Wilkinson 26, Daryl Corletto 17, Thomas Abercrombie 13
• Quarter 23-26, halftime 50-51, third quarter 73-67
