League-leading Breakers silence critics with sizzling start to NBL season

The NZ Breakers are serving up a healthy serving of humble pie to their doubters with their scorching start to the NBL season.

The Kiwi side - written off by pundits in their pre-season rankings - have overcome an almost wholesale roster reconstruction and the late exit of theory talismanic coach Mody Maor to surge to the top of the competition standings, in huge part due to the influence of import point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright.

In his second year in Auckland, the American has taken an enormous leap, abusing defences across Australasia to become the clear-cut frontrunner for the league's MVP award through the early stages of their campaign.

New head coach Petteri Koponen has defied his relative inexperience and immediately made his mark, implementing a system that revolves heavily around his superstar point guard, and the results speak for themselves.

The loudest of those came against Melbourne United on Monday, when the Breakers torched one of the league's best perimeter defences to earn a 34-point win - their first on that court since 2018.

Former Breaker Casey Frank counts himself among the many who predicted a down year for the team, but admits he's been impressed by what he's seen so far.

"Coming into the season, I did not see this type of start coming off," Frank told SENZ Mornings.

"This is a team that has really learned what its engine is. It's Parker Jackson-Cartwright, and everything is working off of that engine, a team that really enjoys playing together.

"I've been impressed with Petteri Koponen and how he's put together the strategy for what they want to do. The buttons that he's pressing, getting these guys ready to go , and they are certainly surprising teams.

"They've really put the league on notice that, not only are they playing well, but they're playing well against the cream of the crop. The teams that they weren't supposed to have the talent to beat, they are running them off the floor."

Jackson-Cartwright currently sits third in the league's top scorers (20 points per game) and atop the assists leaders (7.5 pg).

A large part of those have come courtesy of Matt Mooney's light-out shooting from long range, averaging 2.88 three-pointers per game - good enough for fourth in the competition.

Next Star Karim Lopez is also making significant strides, bolstering his NBA Draft stocks with some big nights in pink - most recently posting a 17pt, 10 rebound double-double in the beatdown of the Melburnians.

"Right now it's all coming together nicely, and teams are really struggling to figure out how to take away that combination of PJC and Matt Moody out there on the perimeter."

Listen to the full interview below: