Challenges, challenges

MELBOURNE (Paulo Kennedy's View from Downunder) - How do you turn a universally popular decision into something being widely criticised in little more than a month? That's a question best directed to the NBL and their reffing set-up.

Their decision to clean up the game Downunder was widely heralded by all sectors - it had become too physical, and it was extremely difficult for players to show the level of skill they possess.

Yet there are growing murmurs amongst coaches, players and most importantly fans as referees struggle to implement the vision of referee boss Mal Cooper.

Regularly the whistle blows and the stadium falls silent as all in sundry wait to see where the foul had been plucked from.

The league advertised a 'hands off' policy at the start of the season, which for the most part has been implemented very well and with great success.

But unfortunately it has also turned into a 'make your body disappear when an offensive player launches into you or get called for a foul' policy on too many occasions, many refs struggling to understand how the rules permit varying levels of contact within the cylinder as opposed to limbs outside the cylinder.

Hopefully this is simply something that's part of the transition process and is being addressed by HQ. It is concerning that some senior officials are calling these phantom fouls, however.

I do think the level of criticism just 15 games into the season is unwarranted though. The product is clearly more skilful and better to watch than last season, and that is paramount.

But equally, sports fans in Australia and New Zealand want to see a contest - a balance between offence and defence - and getting defenders hands off but allowing them to move their feet and absorb body contact to the middle of the torso is crucial to achieving that.

That's the challenge for Cooper and Co, and I think we should all be willing to give the reffing team until Christmas to show they have that balance right. It is a very big change after all.

Challenging times

Speaking of challenges, the three-time defending champion New Zealand Breakers face a decent climb to number four after slipping to 1-4 after their thrilling home loss to the Adelaide 36ers.

While the new tighter refereeing has been constantly cited as a reason for their slow start, I think this is missing the point. The champs have been the victims of some phantom calls, but they have been the beneficiaries of a few as well.

The real issue is the Breakers aren't playing smart defence. They have been a high-fouling team in their championship years, but they were mostly aggressive fouls as they tried to force turnovers, where this season they have been terribly reactive.

They are allowing opposing teams to motor in transition, either through not picking the ball up early after a missed shot, or through ill-conceived traps that three of their players appear blissfully uninvolved in.

It's becoming more obvious how much they are missing two of their great defensive leaders rather than struggling with the officials.

League MVP and super-pest Cedric Jackson headed for the big bucks in Europe and was replaced by a rookie scorer in Kerron Johnson, while super-intelligent FIBA veteran Dillon Boucher was replaced with workmanlike import Darnell Lazare rather than a player of similar all-court brilliance.

"We got a guy like Darnell who knew the league and we left ourselves in a position to possibly get Cedric back," coach Dean Vickerman said of how they spent their dollars.

"Maybe we didn't quite value everything Dillon gave us in that position. It's a huge thing, more than anything he was always two steps ahead of the game, when he huddled the group on the floor they knew what they're doing two steps ahead."

Welcome back Gary

New Zealand moved Lazare out last week, but rather than replace him with a defensive stud they went for sweet-shooting American big man Gary Wilkinson, a two-time championship winner with the club.

Few basketball fans Downunder are sad to see Wilkinson return, he is a character who plays with his heart on his sleeve, Kiwi fans love him and opposition fans love to hate him.

But his return is also a great story for Wilkinson, who left the Breakers reluctantly after management told him, also reluctantly, that they wanted to give more minutes to emerging New Zealand centre Alex Pledger, a 7'1" (2.15m) tower who was clearly ready to become a starter and has since flourished.

After a strong year in Estonia with Kalev/Cramo, Wilkinson was in demand in Europe but turned down contracts on the continent to return home to the USA to look after his sick father.

Sadly, his dad passed away two weeks ago, but it is warming to know WIlkinson has landed back with a club that considered him family during his first stint, and Vickerman thinks it has been a perfect tonic for a man heavy of heart.

"Definitely. He loved being here," Vickerman said. "He walked back through the door with a big smile on his face."

And asked if the enthusiastic Wilkinson and jaw-jacking Aussie CJ Bruton had stopped trash-talking each other ever since, Vickerman simply laughed.

"It's a bit of a battle with those two."

Here's hoping the Breakers family helps Big Red overcome one of life's biggest challenges with a smile on his face.

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA

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