NZ Breakers owner on local talent and trying to get Kiwi core

By Christopher Reive

New Zealand Breakers owner Matt Walsh hears the fans.

The American has been a polarising figure since the consortium he is involved in took over the club in 2018, with plenty of criticism coming from a lack of homegrown talent in the Auckland-based team.

That appears to have been amplified this year with veteran Tom Abercrombie calling time on his career at the end of last season, and little continuity in the playing group outside of import guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright.

Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s D’Arcy Waldegrave, Walsh said building a new core of Kiwi players was something he wanted to achieve.

“I hear the fans, and nobody wants this team to be built around Kiwis more than me. Unfortunately, life and financial offers get in the way sometimes, but that’ll be our focus – trying to get a great Kiwi core,” Walsh said.

“I think one thing we couldn’t account for is just the impact of losing Tom Abercrombie. We’ve always had Tom as our backstop; okay, things are going bad, Tom is the guy who levels us out and we didn’t have that this year for the first time.

“[Australian] Mitch [McCarron] has been there this year and done a really good job, but he’s not Tom – no one is. Next year will be year two and I think trying to find some more Kiwis to come back and be that local core will be great for us.”

The team were able to recruit Kiwi big man Sam Mennenga prior to the season, buying him out of his contract with the Cairns Taipans. The 23-year-old has been one of the limited bright spots for the Breakers this season as they struggled for results, with Mennenga averaging about 12 points and five rebounds a game; both marks being the third-highest in the team.

Mennenga is, however, one of just two Kiwis getting regular minutes in coach Petteri Koponen’s rotation, along with forward Max Darling, who averages about 17 minutes per game.

The other New Zealanders in the squad – Alex McNaught, Carlin Davison and injury replacement Tai Wynyard – have appeared in fewer than 10 of the team’s 26 games this season.

While they do have players who count as locals (Australians or New Zealanders) in New Zealand-born Mojave King, Australian former NBA player Jonah Bolden and Australian forward Sean Bairstow, McCarron is the only local player on the roster who has years of NBL experience under his belt.

That’s a big change from the last couple of seasons, when plenty of established local talent was on the roster which made back-to-back playoff appearances, including a runners-up finish in the 2022-23 season.

“This is my eighth year, I believe,” Walsh said. “Nothing surprises me at this point. We started off 7-3 – I was with the team at the NBA tour, I watched us lose all of our pre-season games and while I was pleasantly surprised by how we started, I didn’t think at the time that we had a team that could compete for a championship.”

The team currently sit ninth on the 10-team ladder with a 9-17 record, but Walsh said the season had established the foundations of their rebuild following several key departures, including former head coach Mody Maor.

That rebuild included the likes of Mennenga and impressive Mexican youngster Karim Lopez, who remains on contract for another year in the NBL’s Next Stars programme before he likely makes his way into the NBA.

“Karim Lopez performing the way he has as a 17-year-old, we’re very excited to lock him into that starting three next year. We’ve got a couple of other guys under contract,” Walsh said.

He said the club was also looking to bring Jackson-Cartwright back for another season, after the livewire playmaker finished as a finalist for MVP in the last year’s campaign.

“The premium in our league is locals, and after last year with Mody leaving us late, losing Will McDowell-White and some of our key local guys – we have Sam Mennenga coming back, which is absolutely fantastic, he’s been a bright spot for us this year, but it all starts with the locals. But it would be great to get PJC [Jackson-Cartwright] back then see who hits the market in terms of the locals. You never know. Finn Delany’s in Japan, we’ll see what’s going on with him. We’re going to do our best.”

However, Walsh said a recent five-game suspension had left things with Jackson-Cartwright in a precarious position.

The American guard was suspended by the NBL after being charged with grabbing, pushing or mishandling an official in their Christmas Day game. He charged at an opponent after being knocked to the ground, and one official was knocked over while trying to restrain the Breakers playmaker. The Breakers chose not to appeal the suspension.

“There’s some work to do in terms of the trust between PJC and the league and how he was treated and how he feels about that, but I can tell you we made the highest offer in the history of the Breakers last season to keep him, and we’ve done the same to try keep him this time around,” Walsh said.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission