Gordon Herbert: New Breakers coach reveals what he can bring to the role

The New Zealand Breakers have pulled off a massive coup by securing experienced coach Gordon Herbert on a two-year deal.

He replaces Petteri Koponen, who parted ways with the Auckland-based franchise in February after two years in the role.

Herbert says he's 'incredibly excited' to join the team in this new role. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now we can reveal the new coach of the Breakers,
s Gordon Herbert, coach of Canada, who are ranked fifth
in the world at the moments. That's not bad. And
he also led Germany to a World Cup title in
twenty twenty three and he's with us now.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hi Gordon, good morning, good evening there.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Yeah, well, you know, good morning to you and thank
you very much for your time. First of all, obvious
question is why are you coming to New Zealand.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
I've always been intrigued by the league down there, and
obviously I had really good talks with Mark Mitchell and
Dylan Butcher, and I really liked the vision they had
in the commitment they had to really put a really
good team on the floor. And the second thing, it

(00:43):
aligned with my job with Basketball Canada very good. I
had some options here in Europe, but this aligned much
better with Canada and you know, the Breakers really Dylan
really respected my job with Canada and really made it work.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
When you say Mark Mitchell, are you talking about our
sports minister?

Speaker 2 (01:07):
No, I mean no, Mark Mitchell, the owner of the Breakers.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
We did think for a minute with thought, well that's
but weird. What's he doing involved?

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Now?

Speaker 1 (01:16):
Are you going to be You're gonna so thank you
for clarifying that. Are you going to do this while
also coaching Canada?

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Yes, I am so. It aligns very well. The season shorter,
you know, it doesn't. It works very well with coaching Canada,
and I want to I want to coach day by
day still. I just didn't want to coach the national
team right now. So it aligns very well, does it.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
Are you going to have to do a fair bit
of commuting. I would imagine that, right, because this is
a kind of a hands on, in situ job.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yeah. We have some windows coming up in July, August,
November and worry, and then we have the World Cup
in twenty twenty seven as long as we qualify, so
you know, there it is. It is a little bit
of travel back and forth.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
Yes, What is it about the league that intrigued you?

Speaker 2 (02:15):
No, I watched the finals and I've been intrigued by
the league for many years and I've been very interested
in coming down and coaching there. I think the league
is one of the better leagues around, very underrated and
getting better and better. It's a very well coached league,

(02:35):
you know, and it's a league that plays up temple.
They play with a real good flow and temple and pace,
and it's I think it's an up and coming league.
And you know, especially with you know, some of the
icon players coming back to the league from the NBA,
it's very very interesting.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
Are you able to bring I mean, I don't entirely
know how this all works in terms of attracting talent
and where you get your talent from in this league
and who's allowed to come in, But are you allowed
to bring talent from overseas yourself?

Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yes, we're a lot of three imports, and Dylan Butcher
has actually done a great job recruiting right now and
building the team, and you know, we have a few
more spots to fill and we'll do that together.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
What's your take. I mean, you'll know, in New Zealand, obviously,
for the longest time, we've been completely rugby mad and
that seems to be waning, which I think creates a
window of opportunity for other sports out there. Football is
having a bit of a day with us. Do you
think basketball could actually increase in terms of what we're
interested in New Zealand?

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah, I think so. I think you know, I coached
the German national team and football is huge here, soccer
and and now the basketball national team in Germany is
the number one national team, so there's always an opportunity.
And you know, I think I think the big thing
is is putting a great product on the floor in

(04:08):
front of the fans. And I talk about team identity
all the time, and team identity is what we feel
as a group and what the people can relate to
and see, and if we can do that, it becomes
very attractive.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
Yeah. Well, Gordon, listen Beast of Luck and thank you
very much for taking the time out of your morning
to have a chat to us. It's Gordon Herbert, the
new Breakers coach. For more from Hither Duplessy, Allen Drive,
listen live to news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays,
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