Ronaldson's farewell factor to boost Breakers

BEN WATSON/Auckland Suburbans

BREAKERS BOOST: Tony Ronaldson's final regular season home game for the NZ Breakers could spur the side to victory.

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Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis is counting on the Tony Ronaldson farewell factor helping his team keep its slim Australian NBL playoff hopes alive at the NSEC tomorrow night.

The match against the Gold Coast Blaze will be Ronaldson's final regular season home appearance for the Breakers after the 20-year NBL legend announced his retirement at the conclusion of this campaign. The club is hoping for a big crowd to mark the occasion.

And the Breakers will look to feed off the emotions of the night as they chase a much-needed victory against the Blaze, with the club needing to win its remaining two fixtures and also have some other results go their way over the final week of the regular season.

Ronaldson holds the record for most NBL appearances, with Thursday night's match his 664th, and 88th since joining the Breakers three years ago. In his two decades in the NBL the player they call the Bear has never missed the playoffs, and his team-mates are desperate to keep that streak alive as Ronaldson takes his final bow.

To have any hope the Breakers must douse the Blaze (preferably by more than seven points), back that up in their finale at Cairns on Saturday night, and then hope that either the Blaze, Townsville Crocs or Wollongong Hawks go winless this week.

Lemanis is banking on an emotional night at the NSEC as the Breakers, on a four-game winning tear, look to at least stay alive heading into the weekend. He knows only too well how the energy of such an occasion can be harnessed by the home team.

"I hope the crowd gets in, gets behind it and takes the opportunity to celebrate what's been a pretty special basketball career in this part of the world," he said. "I hope they fill that Events Centre.

"I know last year when we played at Adelaide and Brett Maher had announced his retirement, and they had the naming of the court, they had 7000 screaming maniacs in there and you could really feel the energy and emotion coming from the crowd.

"And they came out and played unbelievably well… hopefully we can have the same here in Auckland."

Lemanis concedes that last weekend's results – especially Wollongong's upset win over the Blaze – haven't done his side any favours, but says the Breakers' focus must remain on taking care of the business in front of them.

"There's nothing we can do about that, and it's kinda kept us in the same position we've said all along. Unless we win we're done. We've got to continue to win, and experience tells me something else will happen to give us a chance," he said.

The Breakers at least control one part of their destiny. If they can defeat the Blaze tomorrow, and do so by eight or more to give themselves the season split, then the combination of a New Zealand win in Cairns and a Blaze defeat at Melbourne on Saturday would sneak them in.

Lemanis says the need for the eight-plus margin will be spoken about, but will not be their singular aim.

"I think we need some strategy going in," he said. "The first thing is to win the game, and it's the sort of thing if you're four up you don't start fouling to win by seven, because you could also lose it.

"The most important thing is to win, then if the opportunity presents, we're conscious of that margin as well."

The exasperating aspect for the Breakers right now is that they could win their last six games in a row, finish above .500 on 15-13 and still miss the playoffs.

"That would be [frustrating]," added Lemanis, "particularly considering I can't remember the last time a team had a winning record and didn't make the playoffs in this league."

Whatever happened over the next four or five days, Lemanis said he was proud of his team's fightback after their mid-season collapse saw them all but out of the playoff picture with more than a month remaining.

"I'm proud of the way the guys stuck together. During that losing patch it was tough, and from the outside there was a lot of negativity. The group did a good job staying positive, and continuing to work hard every day. There was never any finger-pointing, and if anything the group's come closer together.

"Let's just hope the run can continue a little longer."

Lemanis will have a fully fit contingent at his disposal this week, with centre Rick Rickert over his ankle problems that saw him miss last week's clash against the Wollongong Hawks and forward Tom Abercrombie getting closer to full fitness after his recent ankle issues.

Star guard-forward Kirk Penney goes into the match having nabbed his second Player of the Week award in the last three weeks. Another "Penney from heaven" special will be just what the home team needs.

The Blaze come to Auckland needing just one more win to seal a second straight playoff appearance, but without import Ayinde Ubaka who has a corked thigh. Tall Blacks Mika Vukona and Craig Bradshaw are expected to play key roles for the Gold Coast side.

But in a night all about seeing off an NBL legend in style, the Breakers will be hoping it's a double celebration for the home faithful.

The match tips off at 7pm at the North Shore Events Centre tomorrow.