The New Zealand Breakers are hoping to salvage their 2013-14 season by cutting underperforming import Darnell Lazare and replacing him with the familiar face of Gary Wilkinson.
The Breakers have responded quickly to a 4-1 start to the season, and a three-game losing streak, by bringing back Wilkinson, a major part of the team’s 2011 and 2012 NBL championships.
To make room for Wilkinson, the Breakers cut former Sydney Kings big man Lazare after the power forward managed just 4.5 points (on 27 per cent shooting) and 4.5 rebounds over the first four games after having averaged 15.8 and 16.6 points per game over the past two seasons. The club was also forced to place former Perth Wildcat and New Zealand native Jeremiah Trueman on waivers to complete the deal under the NBL’s ridiculous salary cap and points system.
The rule interpretations intended to speed up the game and create more excitement have limited the impact of the physical Lazare.
“Our off season recruitment was based on how the game was played last season, we – along with all clubs, have then had to make adjustments for a different set of refereeing interpretations,” said general manager Richard Clarke. “The guys have been making good adjustments, but it is quite a different game to previous seasons and the coaches felt they needed a different mix of skills in the group to really compete under the new interpretations.”
Wilkinson played last season in Estonia where he won the league’s MVP award with BC Kalev/Cramo before completing a short stint in Puerto Rico, a lucrative custom of many stars during the off-season.
“Returning a club legend who has won two championships here, you know exactly what you are going to get, it lessens the risk and certainly there is a comfort level with our core group of players who have been here for a while now as to what he will bring to the table.
“What has been missing in this team so far this year is the vocal extrovert, we are quite a quiet group and when we said ‘what can we change a little bit’, it was that factor perhaps more than the skill set, the guy with the infectious energy, that is certainly what Gary will bring.
Wilkinson is contracted until the end of the 2013-14 season and is expected to help stop the club’s first three-game losing streak since January 2010 when the New Zealand Breakers take on Adelaide on Thursday night.
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Photo: Phil Walter, Getty Images.
