Zylan Cheatham has a broken foot that will sideline him for up to eight weeks of the Australian NBL season. Photo: Alan Lee / www.photosport.nz
The Breakers last won in the Australian NBL a month ago in their opening game of the season against the Cairns Taipans in Auckland.
Since that 11 point victory they had lost four games as well as several players to injury.
With a rematch against the Taipans in Christchurch on Friday coach Mody Maor was confident a change in fortunes was coming.
"We've been one possession away in every game that we have played from winning so from a process standpoint we feel fairly close to turning the corner and we believe we will start to put wins on the board. Being healthy will help, overcoming the circumstances will help, but every game is an opportunity," Maor said on the eve of the Taipans clash.
After the latest loss - a three point defeat to South East Melbourne Phoenix on Saturday - Maor took an out-of-character approach and laid out the challenges his side faced in the beginning part of the season.
"We knew we had a tough stretch coming into this season, we had the most players out of anybody in the league going to the World Cup, a very disrupted pre-season because of it. (It's) hard to become a team when you don't have everybody. And over the course of the pre-season, while we got players back, we kept losing players to injuries, a lot of them unlucky.
"We lost Will (McDowell-White) for six weeks, then we lost Finn (Delany) for six weeks, we lost Mantas (Rubstavicius) for six weeks, we lost (Justinian) Jessup for the whole season and now we have lost Zylan (Cheatham)
"These are not excuses, these are the circumstances with which we have been faced. Our guys are doing everything that they can and everything that I asking of them every day. They are working as hard as can be.
"Our fans should be proud of the amount of effort that our guys put in, they should be proud of how much these guys care, and they should know we will not stop working until we start winning games," Maor said in Melbourne.
Just before his side left their Auckland headquarters on Thursday afternoon to go to the airport to take their home game to the South Island for the first time this season Maor pointed out the Breakers current position on the bottom of the standings was "not dire".
NZ Breakers Parker Jackson-Cartwright Photo: Brett Phibbs/ Photosport
However changes had been "more frequent" than Maor expected so soon into the season.
"You change an individual and you bring somebody else then a lot of things become different, contribution, the style of play, the connectivity, becoming a unit all these things take a hit but it's normal process for a basketball team. This has been a little bit more frequent and bigger changes than we would like so soon. All those things will become better and better with time."
Cheatham's broken foot ruled the American import out for up to eight weeks and Maor said the club would not bring in a replacement player.
Maor believed he had the right mix of players available to turn the season around while Cheatham recovered.
"There is no replacing Zylan. The uniqueness of a player who can make a three and catch a lob in the same possession is big the things that he did for us defensively, offensively, the rebounding his presence in the locker room these are all very significant parts. He was the focal point for who we are so nobody can replace him. Roles will be a little bit different, responsibilities a little bit different play calls will be a little bit different nobody need to be Zylan they just need to be themselves."
Forward Finn Delany was also sure the team's second win of the season was not far away if they "stick to what we believe in".
"There's some glaring holes in our defence and things we need to address and we will address but if you came and were in our [training] facility any day during the season you wouldn't have thought we were in this position. The mood the vibes everything's been good."
He "100 percent" thought the season was close to turning a corner.
"I think it's been close this whole tough stretch, every game we've been in even though one we were down 26...we're a few pieces of the puzzle away from something that I believe is going to be really good.
"We're winners everyone in our locker room has been through successful seasons and won in different situations here or abroad so we know what it is to win and we know what it is to overcome tough stretches."
Import guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright agreed.
"We've hit a little bit of adversity but that happens with every team in every season in professional sport so after five games we can't waiver and get down on ourselves we're going to stay positive and keep working."
The Breakers play the Taipans in Christchurch followed by a rematch of last season's finals series when they take on the Sydney Kings in Sydney on Sunday.
