December 19, 2024 • 8 mins
No panic from the Breakers amid a six-game losing streak in the NBL, heading into tomorrow night's game against the Sydney Kings at Spark Arena.
The New Zealand club have suffered double-digit margin defeats in their current stretch, which has seen them fall from the top of the table to second-to-last.
Guard Mitch McCarron says the Breakers remain calm.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Duncie Wildergrave
from News Talk Z'B.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Break us on the program, and now we go to
Mitch mccarr and co captain and guard Hi Mercho Darcy.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
And thanks very much for joining us. I was going
to say happy holidays, but you haven't got any, have you.
You don't get to take any time off, mate, this
is cruel.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
No.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Look, I shouldn't complain because you know, we get to
play basketball or sport we love for a living. But yeah,
there won't be any Christmas break going on this year.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Before we get to the Christmas Day fiasco, which I
find intriguing, let's talk about what happens next Friday night.
You've got the Sydney Kings. Now, the word free fall
it is probably a word you don't want to hear,
but that's what the club's going through right now. This
is scary, right.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yeah, it's been it's been a bit of a disappointing run.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
You know, obviously after a hot start, you know, we've
obviously given up that kind of advantage on the ladder
now and we're back into the grind of trying to
find every win that we possibly can.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
So you know, it's not panic stations.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I don't think every every team kind of goes through
a little bit of a rut throughout the season. You know,
the team's up top just managed to turn that into
a one or two game losing streak or a three
game losing streak instead of six. And we can't change
the past. We just need to turn around and start
winning very soon.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I keep saying it. You probably agree basketball game time
it's a game of runs, and I'm presuming in championship
time it can be a game of runs as well.
You go through patches. You can't be consistently at the
top of the league. It's just not possible.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah, it's really hard to stay on top all year.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
You know, everyone talks about obviously you're trying to win
every single game, and really we don't.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Play a ton of them.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
I mean, I think it's twenty nine games this year
this season, So you know, if you and then they
go fast, you know, you sometimes play two or three
a week and you turn around, you go it's January.
So you know, you can't afford to kind of let
go of the rope early on and get too frustrated.
You've just got to move on and keep learning as
a group and keep getting better as a group and
(02:15):
put yourselves in a finals position to play your best
basketball and try and win a trophy.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, when it counts. What about in the shit after
the game? Look, first loss, you'll be going you're not good.
Second year we get to the sixth loss. What energy
is there in the gym when you come back again.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
Yeah, it'd be really nice to be back in Spark.
You know, obviously we've done a favorit of traveling and
it's great to get to the other cities so that,
you know, breakers fans from other cities can see us play.
But you know, we were undefeated at Spark this season,
so you know, we've got to keep that streak alive
and make a little run here.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I tell you what, you guys are playing three dollars
fifty for the win. You've got to win eventually, you
might be worth putting a couple of bucks on that one.
Have you identified, Mitch McCarran, what exactly has gone wrong
as far as what you're not doing or maybe what
you're letting happen to you. What have you looked at
there as far as pulling the last six games apart, I.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Think it's a combination of things.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
You know, Offensively, defensively, we haven't been as good as
we were in the first part of the season, and
you know, we have to face.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Reality with that. You know, it sucks to talk.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
About, but you know, the reality is our half court
defense hasn't been as good and our execution shooting hasn't
been as good, and hence why we're in the position
we're in. So we've been shipping away at that, you know,
each week, trying to get on the same page, and
everyone you know, plays together and execute and get really
good shots, and you know, sometimes they don't go in.
(03:42):
Sometimes you have games we just can't make a shot
and you rely on your defense. You just can't have
a month we don't really shoot well, and unfortunately that's
what we've had.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
How's Tycho fall been going because he since he's turned up,
things have kind of slipped. I'm not saying he's responsible
for it, but what's his reaction like knowing that things
are not working As a new recruit who's been I
suppose much talked about a heat of versus just talk
to us around his introduction how he's feeling, what he's
been up to.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
I think, you know, for him it would be you know,
there's a lot of pressure and everyone's kind of talking
about Taco. I think he's His attitude for us has
been great. You know, he came in and he's working hard,
coming up an injury and trying to do his best.
He's a bit of enigma in our league. We just
don't have many people like him. We've never had anyone
as tall as him in the league before. You know,
(04:31):
his play style is very different to how teams recruit,
so that's something that we just have to get used to,
you know, it's something that we have to you know,
teams will play a different way against this than we're
used to, seeing different types of coverages, and the better
we are at handling that, the better that you know,
we'll have, we'll find more success. And for us, it's
just about finding that solving that solution.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
At the moment, it's.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Time in the saddle. But you look at basketball and
the nature of the game when people get signed very
fast into very different teams constantly throughout their careers. It's
the ability to gel within a couple games. Doesn't it
not take so long, So do we question that Gelling?
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Yeah, I think for.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Us the challenges is to you know, up speed quickly.
Like I mentioned before, games come really fast, so you know,
you don't really have time to turn around. And you know,
if you if you find you're struggling to shoot the ball,
or you know you're struggling against certain types of defenses
or coverages, you know every team is going to copy
that and you might play two or three in a week.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
So you just have to solve. Yeah, you know, you
just have to problem solve and find a winning solution.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Playing on Christmas Day. Mitch mccaren, how do you feel
about that, not being near your family, being out It
seems very odd to me.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Yeah, everybody's kind of had a turn I think at
this point playing Christmas Day games, and you know it's
tough for.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Us obviously traveling overseas.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
But that's what the challenge that we face every season
with the breakers.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
I suppose it's you.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Know, overseas games when you go to Australia and you're
playing road games and everything's in international trip and this
is no different. You know, we'll go over there and
I think most guys are going to have their families
or partners there at least, so you know, we'll travel
over and kind.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Of celebrate together a little bit over there and try
and get a win on Christmas Day. So it's the.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
First game for the Breakers through that. But this happened
regularly with the AMBL beforehand.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Is it match?
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yeah, Sydney.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
Sidney has traditionally I think they started it off and
you know they play Illawarra a few times and then
Melbourne has hosted some games as well, and then Tazzy
kind of got in on it as well, so you know,
obviously teams are enjoying doing something different. I don't think
any other Australian league. Excuse my ignorance if there is,
but I don't know of any other Australian major league
(06:47):
that plays on Christmas Day, So you know, I guess
they're trying to be a little bit different and put
some entertainment on and so far it's been a success.
People seem to respond really well to it and get
around it. So you know, unfortunately we have to do
the overseas trip, but I suppose that's we're in the
entertainment industry and then that's what we have to do.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
How does the day unfold. You get up, do presents,
eat far too much, smash a few whiskeys, and then
go to the court.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
That's the worst part. You can't eat too much, you know,
I think.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Well, obviously, depending on what time you play, some games
earlier and some games are late. So from our part,
you know, we'll have to play. I think we're at
a night game over there in Tazzy, so it'll be
a pretty standard game day. You know, we'll get to
have a little shoot around in the morning, we'll get
to have proper meals rather than an early afternoon game
where that kind of changes you typical game day plan.
(07:37):
So I think it'll just be another day at the
office in terms of getting ready for a game, and
hopefully you guys don't go too hard on the Christmas
streets before.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Mitch McCarran, you're really looking forward to getting back to Spark.
I'm sure the crowd are as well. Light it up.
It should be a fantastic night in time to turn
around what's been going on in the last half dozen matches.
You must be confident you've got to bring that attitude right.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Yeah, for sure, we know, you know, we're desperate for
a win at the moment. And you know, while you
know we have are on a six game slide, at
the same time, we had a great start to the season.
So you know, we're thankful to have a small little
cushion there that still gives us a fighting chance and
we're not out of it by any means.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
You know, we go on a roll here.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
And win a bunch of games and we're sitting pretty
for finals. So that's what it's all about.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Match for you and the entire team. I'm going to
sit around on Christmas Day in my breakers, single it
and eat and drink way too much. I'm going to
take the hit for you.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Do it for all of us. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks
it'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Duncie Wildergrave
from News Talk Z'B.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Break us on the program, and now we go to
Mitch mccarr and co captain and guard Hi Mercho Darcy.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
And thanks very much for joining us. I was going
to say happy holidays, but you haven't got any, have you.
You don't get to take any time off, mate, this
is cruel.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
No.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Look, I shouldn't complain because you know, we get to
play basketball or sport we love for a living. But yeah,
there won't be any Christmas break going on this year.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Before we get to the Christmas Day fiasco, which I
find intriguing, let's talk about what happens next Friday night.
You've got the Sydney Kings. Now, the word free fall
it is probably a word you don't want to hear,
but that's what the club's going through right now. This
is scary, right.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yeah, it's been it's been a bit of a disappointing run.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
You know, obviously after a hot start, you know, we've
obviously given up that kind of advantage on the ladder
now and we're back into the grind of trying to
find every win that we possibly can.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
So you know, it's not panic stations.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I don't think every every team kind of goes through
a little bit of a rut throughout the season. You know,
the team's up top just managed to turn that into
a one or two game losing streak or a three
game losing streak instead of six. And we can't change
the past. We just need to turn around and start
winning very soon.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I keep saying it. You probably agree basketball game time
it's a game of runs, and I'm presuming in championship
time it can be a game of runs as well.
You go through patches. You can't be consistently at the
top of the league. It's just not possible.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah, it's really hard to stay on top all year.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
You know, everyone talks about obviously you're trying to win
every single game, and really we don't.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Play a ton of them.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
I mean, I think it's twenty nine games this year
this season, So you know, if you and then they
go fast, you know, you sometimes play two or three
a week and you turn around, you go it's January.
So you know, you can't afford to kind of let
go of the rope early on and get too frustrated.
You've just got to move on and keep learning as
a group and keep getting better as a group and
(02:15):
put yourselves in a finals position to play your best
basketball and try and win a trophy.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, when it counts. What about in the shit after
the game? Look, first loss, you'll be going you're not good.
Second year we get to the sixth loss. What energy
is there in the gym when you come back again.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
Yeah, it'd be really nice to be back in Spark.
You know, obviously we've done a favorit of traveling and
it's great to get to the other cities so that,
you know, breakers fans from other cities can see us play.
But you know, we were undefeated at Spark this season,
so you know, we've got to keep that streak alive
and make a little run here.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
I tell you what, you guys are playing three dollars
fifty for the win. You've got to win eventually, you
might be worth putting a couple of bucks on that one.
Have you identified, Mitch McCarran, what exactly has gone wrong
as far as what you're not doing or maybe what
you're letting happen to you. What have you looked at
there as far as pulling the last six games apart, I.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Think it's a combination of things.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
You know, Offensively, defensively, we haven't been as good as
we were in the first part of the season, and
you know, we have to face.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Reality with that. You know, it sucks to talk.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
About, but you know, the reality is our half court
defense hasn't been as good and our execution shooting hasn't
been as good, and hence why we're in the position
we're in. So we've been shipping away at that, you know,
each week, trying to get on the same page, and
everyone you know, plays together and execute and get really
good shots, and you know, sometimes they don't go in.
(03:42):
Sometimes you have games we just can't make a shot
and you rely on your defense. You just can't have
a month we don't really shoot well, and unfortunately that's
what we've had.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
How's Tycho fall been going because he since he's turned up,
things have kind of slipped. I'm not saying he's responsible
for it, but what's his reaction like knowing that things
are not working As a new recruit who's been I
suppose much talked about a heat of versus just talk
to us around his introduction how he's feeling, what he's
been up to.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
I think, you know, for him it would be you know,
there's a lot of pressure and everyone's kind of talking
about Taco. I think he's His attitude for us has
been great. You know, he came in and he's working hard,
coming up an injury and trying to do his best.
He's a bit of enigma in our league. We just
don't have many people like him. We've never had anyone
as tall as him in the league before. You know,
(04:31):
his play style is very different to how teams recruit,
so that's something that we just have to get used to,
you know, it's something that we have to you know,
teams will play a different way against this than we're
used to, seeing different types of coverages, and the better
we are at handling that, the better that you know,
we'll have, we'll find more success. And for us, it's
just about finding that solving that solution.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
At the moment, it's.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Time in the saddle. But you look at basketball and
the nature of the game when people get signed very
fast into very different teams constantly throughout their careers. It's
the ability to gel within a couple games. Doesn't it
not take so long, So do we question that Gelling?
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Yeah, I think for.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Us the challenges is to you know, up speed quickly.
Like I mentioned before, games come really fast, so you know,
you don't really have time to turn around. And you know,
if you if you find you're struggling to shoot the ball,
or you know you're struggling against certain types of defenses
or coverages, you know every team is going to copy
that and you might play two or three in a week.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
So you just have to solve. Yeah, you know, you
just have to problem solve and find a winning solution.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Playing on Christmas Day. Mitch mccaren, how do you feel
about that, not being near your family, being out It
seems very odd to me.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Yeah, everybody's kind of had a turn I think at
this point playing Christmas Day games, and you know it's
tough for.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Us obviously traveling overseas.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
But that's what the challenge that we face every season
with the breakers.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
I suppose it's you.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Know, overseas games when you go to Australia and you're
playing road games and everything's in international trip and this
is no different. You know, we'll go over there and
I think most guys are going to have their families
or partners there at least, so you know, we'll travel
over and kind.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Of celebrate together a little bit over there and try
and get a win on Christmas Day. So it's the.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
First game for the Breakers through that. But this happened
regularly with the AMBL beforehand.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Is it match?
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yeah, Sydney.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
Sidney has traditionally I think they started it off and
you know they play Illawarra a few times and then
Melbourne has hosted some games as well, and then Tazzy
kind of got in on it as well, so you know,
obviously teams are enjoying doing something different. I don't think
any other Australian league. Excuse my ignorance if there is,
but I don't know of any other Australian major league
(06:47):
that plays on Christmas Day, So you know, I guess
they're trying to be a little bit different and put
some entertainment on and so far it's been a success.
People seem to respond really well to it and get
around it. So you know, unfortunately we have to do
the overseas trip, but I suppose that's we're in the
entertainment industry and then that's what we have to do.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
How does the day unfold. You get up, do presents,
eat far too much, smash a few whiskeys, and then
go to the court.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
That's the worst part. You can't eat too much, you know,
I think.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Well, obviously, depending on what time you play, some games
earlier and some games are late. So from our part,
you know, we'll have to play. I think we're at
a night game over there in Tazzy, so it'll be
a pretty standard game day. You know, we'll get to
have a little shoot around in the morning, we'll get
to have proper meals rather than an early afternoon game
where that kind of changes you typical game day plan.
(07:37):
So I think it'll just be another day at the
office in terms of getting ready for a game, and
hopefully you guys don't go too hard on the Christmas
streets before.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Mitch McCarran, you're really looking forward to getting back to Spark.
I'm sure the crowd are as well. Light it up.
It should be a fantastic night in time to turn
around what's been going on in the last half dozen matches.
You must be confident you've got to bring that attitude right.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Yeah, for sure, we know, you know, we're desperate for
a win at the moment. And you know, while you
know we have are on a six game slide, at
the same time, we had a great start to the season.
So you know, we're thankful to have a small little
cushion there that still gives us a fighting chance and
we're not out of it by any means.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
You know, we go on a roll here.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
And win a bunch of games and we're sitting pretty
for finals. So that's what it's all about.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Match for you and the entire team. I'm going to
sit around on Christmas Day in my breakers, single it
and eat and drink way too much. I'm going to
take the hit for you.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Do it for all of us. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks
it'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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