Mitch McCarron: Breakers Guard on their NBL preseason, upcoming campaign

There’s belief the Breakers can take a lot of positives from their winless NBL preseason. 

The Kiwi side get their campaign officially underway against Brisbane in Perth, their opponents going in with six of seven preseason wins, including the Blitz tournament. 

Guard Mitch McCarron says the consistency wasn't where they want it to be, but there were signs of improvement as the preseason went on. 

D'Arcy catches up with Mitch ahead of the season tip-off.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the All Sport Breakfast podcast with Darcy
Wildegrave from News Talk.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
ZEDB Breakers get underway this weekend. They get underway tonight
that the hoops Fast are over way over in Western
Australia are taking on a Brisbane Bullets to get the
season up underway. Mitch mccaron joins us. Now, can I
describe you Mitch as a tadlanaki as player and just
forget about all the other things you did, like you know,
playing for your country.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
And the like. No problem, we can start there.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Thanks very much for joining us, and well done on
picking up with the Breakers. And now you know what
it like to travel ridiculous distances right the way through
your series. This has got to be a consideration, doesn't
it for an Aussie boy joining this club.

Speaker 3 (00:47):
Yeah, thank you. No, it's exciting to be with the Breakers,
you know, I think you know, it's something that you
take on. Is part of you know, the travel is
part of the challenge. And you know, the successful Breakers
teams in the past that have won championships have had
to deal with that and they've embraced it and kind
of used it as as a motivating factor rather than
an excuse, and that's what we have to do this
year as well.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
You've been around the traps, I mean, played for a
number of different teams in the NBL. The major difference
is when you drop between franchises. Easy enough to pick
up me basketball's basketball, but you know, big differences that
you'll found as a player.

Speaker 3 (01:23):
Yeah, I mean I think it's you know, obviously you
go systems a system with different coaching staffs. You know,
we've got a heavy European influence, you know with our
coaching staff, which I think is a good thing and
it's a new thing for a lot of guys on
our roster, but it's something that you know, if we
can get right, will be very different and that people
are not used to playing against in this league, so
that can be a significant advantage for us. We've just

(01:44):
got to get on the same page as quickly as possible.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
So for those who don't know what that means, I'm
presuming you say European style are boisterous, and that's probably
an understatement. Big bodies going at each other.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, it's physical, but it's also just you know, the
types of offense because you're running the types of defensive
coverages you know, it's just like in any sport, everyone
tries to find a different way to play the game
that might give them an advantage. And you know, it's
not like we're reinventing the wheel, but you know, we're
bringing over certain concepts that they've had in their careers
as players, as coaches and trying to implement into our

(02:18):
system now. And we have to apply our talents into
that system. So you know, I see it. You know,
there's definitely a vision there. We've just got to execute it.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
It takes a while to blend in to get everyone
playing off the same page. That's part of the Blitz.
So out of that, any key lessons from that.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
Do you think Mitch I thought we got better? You know, obviously,
you know our record in the preseason it was it was,
you know, no wins, but where zero and zero walking
into season just like everybody else is now. And we
took significant strides forward from the first week that we
had on court in the preseason compared to how we
performed at the Blitz and how connected we were and

(02:54):
how well we executed. Of course, the consistency wasn't where
we want it to be at, but at the same point,
you know, we made huge strides forward, so a lot
of positives came out of that week, for sure.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
Mitch McCarron joins us playing for the Breakers. It's just
been playing some time in sales at MBL for Taranaki.
Just tell us a little bit about that competition because
it's going gang bus as it really is, the way
it's been revitalized over the last few years. She's a
fairly hard comp isn't it. What have you noticed?

Speaker 3 (03:22):
Yeah, super competitive. You know. I played back in twenty
seventeen for a season and then also a few games
in twenty nineteen, and then the league has jumped ahead
for sure. You know, coming back and playing with Taranaki,
I had a great time. There's so much talent on
every team and you know, lots of studs and just
the depth in New Zealand basketball, you know that the

(03:43):
local Kiwi players in general, you know, every roster just
got a little bit better. So yeah, it was a
really fun league to play in and I'm sure lots
of people will be heading over here over the next
couple of years as well.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
And ITT's describe your role as you see it within
the Breakers shooting guard. You're a leading player and there
you are a bench specialist. Where do you actually sit
in the whole setup?

Speaker 3 (04:05):
Yeah, I mean the way our line up currently is,
I'm I'm a backup guard. You know, I am a
borehand and a creator for us, but I also enjoy
playing off the ball, and you know, we've got some
guys who can really score and really make plays for
us in Parker and Matt, and you know, for myself,
I just want to make sure that I'm ready to
play in whatever role that is, you know, regardless of minutes,

(04:26):
regardless of how much I got the ball in my hands,
it will just be about getting wins and solving the
puzzle for us each game.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
And the state of the bodies of the athletes, because
this is one thing we've learned, injuries throughout the team
can be quite destructive for progress. We saw that last
year with the Breakers. So how's the healthy vifellow athletes.

Speaker 3 (04:46):
I'd say we're a lot healthier than we were last year.
I mean, obviously I wasn't with the Breakers, but you know,
I just felt like every week, you know, I was
seeing an announcement about someone potentially being out with another injury,
which is obviously just devastating in the preseason when you're
trying to get on the same page and people keep
going down. So you know, we're definitely in a healthier state.

(05:06):
We're just a new roster, so you know, we're trying
to put it together and get time on the floor
and spend time together, which we've been doing and we've
been making progress. So yeah, I think it's been a
positive start for sure.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
And did you enjoy the plane ride over to Perth?
Workout okay? For your minister, jam yourrigocine a tiny seat?
Did you get the aisle seat or what? Was that
a reserve for the centers?

Speaker 3 (05:27):
No, I think our centers are in their exits, thankfully,
so that's probably the way it should be, and then
everyone else has to find their best seat after that.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
Well, looking forward to the start of the season, and
let's hope the injury toll is a whole lot less
than it was last year because that was hard to
deal with. Mitch, thanks so much for joining us here
on the news talk ZB. You get out there and
cause a ruckus mate, Thanks for your time.

Speaker 3 (05:48):
Thanks so much, have a good one.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
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