ILLAWARRA coach Rob Beveridge has thrown out the scouting reports from his side’s two victories over New Zealand this season, saying the Breakers are a completely different team since the arrival of star import Kevin Dillard.
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With Ben Woodside barely sighted this season and Corey Webster and Tom Abercrombie also on the injury list, the Breakers looked dead and buried as finals contenders just a matter of weeks ago.
However, they’ve won two of three games since Dillard’s arrival barely 24 hours before their round 16 clash with Adelaide, including an 18-point win over Sydney and a two-point victory over Brisbane last week.
Dillard hit a mid-range buzzer-beater to sink the Bullets in a moment that has the potential to turn the four-time champions’ NBL season. It’s something Beveridge is well aware of heading into their series deciding clash with the Breakers at the WEC on Friday.
“They’re still in the [play-off] mix, they’re right there just outside the four and they’ve got enough games up their sleeve to get there,” Beveridge said.
“Dillard’s legit, he’s the real deal so they now have three legitimate imports and Kirk Penney’s Kirk Penney. He’s just a winner, everywhere he goes the guy wins and he’s starting to score some points as well.
“They’ve got veterans in their team, they’ve got the [Mika] Vukonas’, they’ve got the [Alex] Pledgers’, guys who’ve been around and know how to win so they are super, super dangerous.
“They have been there, done that and are one of the league’s most successful teams.
“We are not in the play-offs yet by any stretch of the imagination. Their goal right now, like us, is making the play-offs and they have to go through us [on Friday]. They have to beat us to get there.
“In our case we have to beat them to stay in the play-offs race so it’s going to be an incredible game.”
Dillard finished with 28 points in the win over Brisbane and Beveridge admits the 27-year-old remains largely an unknown quantity ahead of Friday’s clash.
“We haven’t played him before so we’re only going off watching their games and scouts, it’s a completely different proposition in a live game,” Beveridge said.
“We’ve played New Zealand three times now but that’s when they had [David] Stockton and a completely different roster.
“They’re a completely different team. They’ve brought in two new imports [Dillard and Paul Carter] who are really, really good.
“They’ve won their last two, they beat Sydney quite easily by 18 and had that buzzer-beater win the other night [against Brisbane]. That makes them very very dangerous.”
For his part, Dillard says that famous Breakers culture has helped make his transition to the NBL a seamless one.
“To transition hasn’t been hard at all.It’s easy for me because of the group of guys we have and the culture they’ve already built,” he said following the Brisbane victory.
“Just having that one week of practice allowed me to see what a lot of guys are capable of and their strengths and where they can be successful on the floor
“Since I got here the communication has really sped up the learning curve. We’re right where we need to be. We’ve just got to continue to take care of business.”