September 28, 2024 • 10 mins
The Breakers are hoping for a strong start in Sunday's home opener against the South East Melbourne Phoenix.
Last week's clash was a success for the team - the Breakers walked away with a 91-87 victory over the Brisbane Bullets.
Breakers guard Mitch McCarron joined Piney to discuss.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Fine
from Newstalk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Let's stay with the sports with the hoops. The Breakers
up and running in the twenty twenty four to twenty
five Australian National Basketball League season. They began their campaign
with a ninety one eighty seven win over the Brisbane
Bullets last weekend. Three Seconds Left, three point League.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
You mix it as all well and makes it just
stay wide away from everybody, do not go follos Thirth,
one point play, Smith milneral step into it.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
And the New Zealand Breakers snatch victory from the jaws
of the vehicle. Yeah, a win for the Breakers last week.
They were actually about twenty six points ahead in that
game before winning it by four, But a win's a win.
Next up, they have their first home game tonight Spark Arena.
The Southeast Melbourne Phoenix are the opposition. One of the
(00:58):
new faces on the Breakers roster highly experienced Australian guard
Mitch McCarran, who's closing it on two hundred and fifty
AMBL game games, having previously played for the Kings, Taipe Hands,
the Melbourne United Side and also the Adelaide thirty sixers,
he joins us. Now, Mitch, thanks for joining us on
the show. How pleasing was it, first of all to
get that win first.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Up, Hey, thanks for having me on. Yeah, it's awesome.
You know, that's obviously the goal, and you know we
were taking to shride forward even though you know it
might not have seemed like it in the wins Colin.
In the preseason, you know, we felt like we were
growing as a group of getting better and then first
game of the year we get the big job done, and.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
We want to know, did it feel as though you
know you were on the right track even though as
you as you just said, the preseason results weren't going
your way.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Yeah, obviously, you know, having done it a few times
now with a few different groups, you know, it's always
a different vibe, you know, with every team, you know,
some have got a lot of continuation and some are
very new, which is us. So you know, we've got
a new coaching staff in the league for the most part,
you know, other than Socksy carrying over, and we've got
a lot of new players, not only to New Zealand
(02:06):
but to the league as well, so there's an adjustment
period that comes with that, but I feel like we've
been getting a lot better and we saw a lot
of that against Brisbane.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
You're one of the more experienced players in the league.
Did you feel a responsibility coming in, even into a
new team, to assume a leadership role.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Yeah, I guess I just wanted to do, you know,
get back to being, you know, that the confident player
that I was first of all. You know, I know
what my skill set is and I want to bring
that for the team. And then naturally, I think I
can help lead and help others get better in that role,
regardless of whether that's got a title on it or not.
You know, it ended up being the case sharing the
role with with Parker. But at the same time, it's
(02:45):
really just about everyone bringing their best energy every day
and that way everyone's the leader.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
And of course coming into a new team that's not
necessarily new for you, but there are a lot of
new faces in this team. Has it been relatively you know,
straightforward to mesh as a playing group, even though I
guess most of you have never really played with one
another before.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yeah, it takes it takes a little bit of time,
for sure, you know, And and season is a ramp
up from pre season even so, that's that's another big
one that is hard to explain to people that haven't
been around the league. You know, you're playing in preseason
games and you feel like everyone's playing harder than it
just goes up another level when it all counts, and
every team in this league is good. If you play poorly,
(03:28):
you lose. It's as simple as that. There are no
nights off, and so from that perspective, it might take
a bit of time for certain groups to adjust. But
I thought we were really good in Round one and
we weren't perfect, but we'll continue to grow.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Just quick look at your career stats. So you're a
six foot two guard, but you average over five rebounds
a game. How are you doing that?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
I steal them from the big but it's a secret. Yeah,
you're letting them do the hard work and you're running
it and they love it. They love it when you
do it.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Apart from your your uncanny ability to port o rebounds,
what else do you think you can bring mainly to
the Breaker's roster.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I want to be, you know, obviously a creative guard
for us. You know, Parker is our guy, no doubt
you know, he's a superstar, and we want the ball
in his hands as much as possible because that would
be good for us. But we've got some, you know,
whether you call it, you know, other point guards or
secondary ball carriers, you know, guys like Matt Mooney and
myself who need to be aggressive for us and be
playmakers for us. So you know, we'll just play off
(04:27):
Parker and if Parker is often, then we'll have the
ball in our hands a little bit more and help
us get into the flow of things. And that way,
everyone's kind of on the same page and sucking their role,
which is a good thing.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
How does Parker Jackson Country compare to other court partners
you've had.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
He is as painful, if not the most painful guy
that the guard at practice, that's for sure. You know,
he's he's going to make us a lot better though
in that sense, and I was excited about that. You know,
I was excited when I signed with the Breakers to
know that Parker was going to be back for that reason,
you know, even playing against him, I was like, man,
this guy's really good. He's smart, and from everyone that
(05:05):
I spoke to, he was a really good guy. And
that's turned out to be true, so I'm enjoying it.
You know, the daily battles of trying to keep him
in front and also trying to attack him, and you
know he's all brought in on the team being successful.
So yeah, I've loved playing with him so far.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
When you sign for the team match, I think Modi
Mayor was the coach. I know he's departed now, but
how important was he in getting you across the Tasman. Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
That was That was really the main reason that I signed,
to be honest, you know, I was excited about a
coach that was kind of well known for I guess
role clarity, for a guy who had a very thorough
system and you know made people buy into that and
made people play a certain way. And you know, we
saw the success they had a couple of years ago
when they pushed Sydney in the in the game five
(05:50):
of Grand Final series and some of their guys were
just excelling in their skill sets and that for me
was a major sign where I wanted to get back
to being a guy that could play his role. But also,
you know, just just have a coach that understood who
he was and from talking to Mody that was that
was really the deciding factor is that I thought he
understood who I was as a player the best.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
So I guess the natural follow on question is, now
that he's departed, are you in any way second guessing
your decision or have you? Have you found Poteri Copingan
to be a coach you can also feel like you
can make a you know.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Have a fit with Yeah, not at all. It's been
actually really fun. You know, it's obviously very different, you know,
first year head coach coming in compared to Mody, But
at the same time, I think they you know, we
have Soxy carryover from the previous year, who was an
assistant coach and he's now associate head coach, and you know,
(06:44):
he carries over some of the systems that we had
and some of the thoughts that Mody had. And I
had a really good phone call with him after Mody
departed and before preseason started about role and it was
very very similar and they were clearly on the same page,
so you know, it wasn't like a complete disconnect. All right,
We're going to do everything differently. There was a lot
of carryover and then cop comes in and I mean
(07:05):
he played at such a highlight, and you know that
that level of European basketball, you know you need to
think and you need to stick into your system because
everyone is so good and the margins so small. So
I think he's brought that with him to us and
we understand. Look, we're the underdogs, you know we are,
so you know, we have to be so good in
little areas and everyone brought into that.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
All right, So tonight South East Melbourne, Phoenix, So you're
next assignmon, how do you assist the threat that they'll bring.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Yeah, we know that. You know, offensively, if you let
them run and gun, they're going to put a lot
of points on the board. We saw that throughout the
preseason and you see that in the roster. You know,
they've got a lot of guys who like to just
go and and if you let them do it, they'll
do it for forty minutes and they'll gladly put on
one hundred and twenty. So you know, we've got to
contain them tonight. We've got to be really good in
that in that area. But you know we've also got
(07:51):
to put the pressure on them when they're on defense
as well, and and put you know, put some scoreboard
pressure on and.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
How much you're looking forward to I mean, you've been
you've played at Spark a lot, but not as a
not as a home player. How much you're looking forward
to that.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Yeah, it's a very different look. I think I still
haven't been in there, you know, even for a shoot round.
So it'll be cool checking it out and seeing it
from a different view. I said earlier this morning as well,
that you know, I went to a concert there, so
I got to sit in the crowd and see that.
That was different, you know. I was just like, oh,
this is weird, Like it doesn't look like this when
I'm out there for basketball. So now I'm excited and
(08:23):
we'll have the home crowd behind us, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Yeah, good stuff. And just to finish, what what does
success look like for the Breakers this season? Is as
simple as just trying to make the playoffs and then
go from there.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Well, I think it's cliche to say win the championship,
you know, obviously, but that's everyone's goal, right and I think,
you know, we're just taking out what game by game.
You know, everyone's going to have their opinions about where
we sit in terms of talent in our roster, but
we showed even throughout the preseason that we're in basically
every game throughout the Blitz and then in Brisbane, sorry
against Brisbane in Perth. You know, we're in every single
(08:59):
game and then we let ourselves down, you know, later
towards the game, which is a controllable thing. So expectations
for us is to win every single game play and
you know, I don't think there'll be any adjustment on
that regardless of what our record is. We'll go into
the next game thinking, all right, if we execute our
game plan, we will win. Just have to make enough shot.
So yeah, and until that changes, which I don't think
(09:19):
it will.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
That's for gods great to have you in our Breakers.
Single it Mitch. Thanks for taking the time for a
chat today. All the best tonight, Thanks so much, Thank you, Mitch,
Mitch McCarran. There. From the Breakers, they take on the
Southeast Melbourne Phoenix Tonight's Park Arena seven point thirty is
tip off after the ninety one eighty seven win last week.
Following this, the Breakers are off to the United States
where they'll take on the Utah Jazz, the Philadelphia seventy
(09:42):
six is and the OKAC Thunder. So nice little, nice
little diversion from the Australian National Basketball League for them
three games against NBA sides in early October and then
back for the resumption of the Australian National Basketball League season.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk sed B weekends from midday or follow
the podcast. I was done. I heard radio
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Fine
from Newstalk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Let's stay with the sports with the hoops. The Breakers
up and running in the twenty twenty four to twenty
five Australian National Basketball League season. They began their campaign
with a ninety one eighty seven win over the Brisbane
Bullets last weekend. Three Seconds Left, three point League.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
You mix it as all well and makes it just
stay wide away from everybody, do not go follos Thirth,
one point play, Smith milneral step into it.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
And the New Zealand Breakers snatch victory from the jaws
of the vehicle. Yeah, a win for the Breakers last week.
They were actually about twenty six points ahead in that
game before winning it by four, But a win's a win.
Next up, they have their first home game tonight Spark Arena.
The Southeast Melbourne Phoenix are the opposition. One of the
(00:58):
new faces on the Breakers roster highly experienced Australian guard
Mitch McCarran, who's closing it on two hundred and fifty
AMBL game games, having previously played for the Kings, Taipe Hands,
the Melbourne United Side and also the Adelaide thirty sixers,
he joins us. Now, Mitch, thanks for joining us on
the show. How pleasing was it, first of all to
get that win first.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Up, Hey, thanks for having me on. Yeah, it's awesome.
You know, that's obviously the goal, and you know we
were taking to shride forward even though you know it
might not have seemed like it in the wins Colin.
In the preseason, you know, we felt like we were
growing as a group of getting better and then first
game of the year we get the big job done, and.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
We want to know, did it feel as though you
know you were on the right track even though as
you as you just said, the preseason results weren't going
your way.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Yeah, obviously, you know, having done it a few times
now with a few different groups, you know, it's always
a different vibe, you know, with every team, you know,
some have got a lot of continuation and some are
very new, which is us. So you know, we've got
a new coaching staff in the league for the most part,
you know, other than Socksy carrying over, and we've got
a lot of new players, not only to New Zealand
(02:06):
but to the league as well, so there's an adjustment
period that comes with that, but I feel like we've
been getting a lot better and we saw a lot
of that against Brisbane.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
You're one of the more experienced players in the league.
Did you feel a responsibility coming in, even into a
new team, to assume a leadership role.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Yeah, I guess I just wanted to do, you know,
get back to being, you know, that the confident player
that I was first of all. You know, I know
what my skill set is and I want to bring
that for the team. And then naturally, I think I
can help lead and help others get better in that role,
regardless of whether that's got a title on it or not.
You know, it ended up being the case sharing the
role with with Parker. But at the same time, it's
(02:45):
really just about everyone bringing their best energy every day
and that way everyone's the leader.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
And of course coming into a new team that's not
necessarily new for you, but there are a lot of
new faces in this team. Has it been relatively you know,
straightforward to mesh as a playing group, even though I
guess most of you have never really played with one
another before.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yeah, it takes it takes a little bit of time,
for sure, you know, And and season is a ramp
up from pre season even so, that's that's another big
one that is hard to explain to people that haven't
been around the league. You know, you're playing in preseason
games and you feel like everyone's playing harder than it
just goes up another level when it all counts, and
every team in this league is good. If you play poorly,
(03:28):
you lose. It's as simple as that. There are no
nights off, and so from that perspective, it might take
a bit of time for certain groups to adjust. But
I thought we were really good in Round one and
we weren't perfect, but we'll continue to grow.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Just quick look at your career stats. So you're a
six foot two guard, but you average over five rebounds
a game. How are you doing that?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
I steal them from the big but it's a secret. Yeah,
you're letting them do the hard work and you're running
it and they love it. They love it when you
do it.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Apart from your your uncanny ability to port o rebounds,
what else do you think you can bring mainly to
the Breaker's roster.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I want to be, you know, obviously a creative guard
for us. You know, Parker is our guy, no doubt
you know, he's a superstar, and we want the ball
in his hands as much as possible because that would
be good for us. But we've got some, you know,
whether you call it, you know, other point guards or
secondary ball carriers, you know, guys like Matt Mooney and
myself who need to be aggressive for us and be
playmakers for us. So you know, we'll just play off
(04:27):
Parker and if Parker is often, then we'll have the
ball in our hands a little bit more and help
us get into the flow of things. And that way,
everyone's kind of on the same page and sucking their role,
which is a good thing.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
How does Parker Jackson Country compare to other court partners
you've had.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
He is as painful, if not the most painful guy
that the guard at practice, that's for sure. You know,
he's he's going to make us a lot better though
in that sense, and I was excited about that. You know,
I was excited when I signed with the Breakers to
know that Parker was going to be back for that reason,
you know, even playing against him, I was like, man,
this guy's really good. He's smart, and from everyone that
(05:05):
I spoke to, he was a really good guy. And
that's turned out to be true, so I'm enjoying it.
You know, the daily battles of trying to keep him
in front and also trying to attack him, and you
know he's all brought in on the team being successful.
So yeah, I've loved playing with him so far.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
When you sign for the team match, I think Modi
Mayor was the coach. I know he's departed now, but
how important was he in getting you across the Tasman. Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
That was That was really the main reason that I signed,
to be honest, you know, I was excited about a
coach that was kind of well known for I guess
role clarity, for a guy who had a very thorough
system and you know made people buy into that and
made people play a certain way. And you know, we
saw the success they had a couple of years ago
when they pushed Sydney in the in the game five
(05:50):
of Grand Final series and some of their guys were
just excelling in their skill sets and that for me
was a major sign where I wanted to get back
to being a guy that could play his role. But also,
you know, just just have a coach that understood who
he was and from talking to Mody that was that
was really the deciding factor is that I thought he
understood who I was as a player the best.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
So I guess the natural follow on question is, now
that he's departed, are you in any way second guessing
your decision or have you? Have you found Poteri Copingan
to be a coach you can also feel like you
can make a you know.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Have a fit with Yeah, not at all. It's been
actually really fun. You know, it's obviously very different, you know,
first year head coach coming in compared to Mody, But
at the same time, I think they you know, we
have Soxy carryover from the previous year, who was an
assistant coach and he's now associate head coach, and you know,
(06:44):
he carries over some of the systems that we had
and some of the thoughts that Mody had. And I
had a really good phone call with him after Mody
departed and before preseason started about role and it was
very very similar and they were clearly on the same page,
so you know, it wasn't like a complete disconnect. All right,
We're going to do everything differently. There was a lot
of carryover and then cop comes in and I mean
(07:05):
he played at such a highlight, and you know that
that level of European basketball, you know you need to
think and you need to stick into your system because
everyone is so good and the margins so small. So
I think he's brought that with him to us and
we understand. Look, we're the underdogs, you know we are,
so you know, we have to be so good in
little areas and everyone brought into that.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
All right, So tonight South East Melbourne, Phoenix, So you're
next assignmon, how do you assist the threat that they'll bring.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Yeah, we know that. You know, offensively, if you let
them run and gun, they're going to put a lot
of points on the board. We saw that throughout the
preseason and you see that in the roster. You know,
they've got a lot of guys who like to just
go and and if you let them do it, they'll
do it for forty minutes and they'll gladly put on
one hundred and twenty. So you know, we've got to
contain them tonight. We've got to be really good in
that in that area. But you know we've also got
(07:51):
to put the pressure on them when they're on defense
as well, and and put you know, put some scoreboard
pressure on and.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
How much you're looking forward to I mean, you've been
you've played at Spark a lot, but not as a
not as a home player. How much you're looking forward
to that.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Yeah, it's a very different look. I think I still
haven't been in there, you know, even for a shoot round.
So it'll be cool checking it out and seeing it
from a different view. I said earlier this morning as well,
that you know, I went to a concert there, so
I got to sit in the crowd and see that.
That was different, you know. I was just like, oh,
this is weird, Like it doesn't look like this when
I'm out there for basketball. So now I'm excited and
(08:23):
we'll have the home crowd behind us, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Yeah, good stuff. And just to finish, what what does
success look like for the Breakers this season? Is as
simple as just trying to make the playoffs and then
go from there.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Well, I think it's cliche to say win the championship,
you know, obviously, but that's everyone's goal, right and I think,
you know, we're just taking out what game by game.
You know, everyone's going to have their opinions about where
we sit in terms of talent in our roster, but
we showed even throughout the preseason that we're in basically
every game throughout the Blitz and then in Brisbane, sorry
against Brisbane in Perth. You know, we're in every single
(08:59):
game and then we let ourselves down, you know, later
towards the game, which is a controllable thing. So expectations
for us is to win every single game play and
you know, I don't think there'll be any adjustment on
that regardless of what our record is. We'll go into
the next game thinking, all right, if we execute our
game plan, we will win. Just have to make enough shot.
So yeah, and until that changes, which I don't think
(09:19):
it will.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
That's for gods great to have you in our Breakers.
Single it Mitch. Thanks for taking the time for a
chat today. All the best tonight, Thanks so much, Thank you, Mitch,
Mitch McCarran. There. From the Breakers, they take on the
Southeast Melbourne Phoenix Tonight's Park Arena seven point thirty is
tip off after the ninety one eighty seven win last week.
Following this, the Breakers are off to the United States
where they'll take on the Utah Jazz, the Philadelphia seventy
(09:42):
six is and the OKAC Thunder. So nice little, nice
little diversion from the Australian National Basketball League for them
three games against NBA sides in early October and then
back for the resumption of the Australian National Basketball League season.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk sed B weekends from midday or follow
the podcast. I was done. I heard radio
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