Basketball: Breakers roster change not coach's call

The Breakers' roster jigsaw has a new piece that coach Petteri Koponen has to make fit over the second half of the NBL season.

Koponen was not behind the signing of import centre Tacko Fall.

He said "management" were the drivers behind getting the 2.29 metre Senegalese player to sign a deal that sees him officially join the roster this week after months of speculation.

The first season head coach liked the way the season was tracking, with seven wins from 10 games and sitting second on the ladder. He was not looking to change his players.

Koponen was however aware that he now had a "great weapon" that they needed to find a way to make fire.

"It can be against us or it can be really good for us time will tell.

"He's a really interesting player with his size what he brings to the table he's a special kind of player and now it's our job to try to find ways to be effective with him on the floor

"With his length with his size he's going to change shots, he's going to protect the rim and take the rebounds. The challenge with him especially from the beginning is he needs to be ready to run up and down this is a really fast league."

Fall would be load restricted for the Breakers' round 10 game against the Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong on Thursday and again against Perth Wildcats on Sunday after missing months of competitive basketball due to a quad injury that he rehabilitated in New Zealand.

"We have to be patient it's not going to be perfect from the beginning 100 percent but step-by-step Tacko is getting in better shape and he can do more things."

Koponen would "mix up" the defence now that he had Fall to call on rather than American Freddie Gillespie who was let go from his Breakers contract to take up an opportunity in Italy.

Gillespie's professionalism while Fall was in the shadows at Breakers HQ had impressed Koponen.

"During this time it wasn't always easy but he was a big reason why were winning games with his energy and he found a way how to help us and in the end it was good for both [sides] Freddie found a great situation in Europe and the club moved forward with Tacko."

Fall had only practiced three times with the Breakers and he acknowledged there would be a "learning curve" for him and his team mates as he integrated into the team.

"I'm a big defensive presence I've been that my whole career, offensively I'm an easy target there's not pretty much anything anyone can do down there and I think it will help open up a lot for other guys around me as well."

The switch of bringing in former NBA player Fall for Gillespie could benefit back-up centre Dane Pineau.

Pineau had played in six games this season his most minutes coming in the season opener against Brisbane Bullets when Gillespie was suspended.

Starting centre Sam Mennenga and Pineau had a similar style - very different to what Fall would bring to the court.

"Tacko's obviously not a high minutes guy so if I can give Sammy a little break here and there maybe I will be playing a little bit more but we'll see how it all goes," Pineau said.

"If I can help him out learning our stuff that's a nice role for me too. I feel like this year I've tried to be a bit more of a leader and there's a new guy coming in so a little bit more responsibility for me to help him out especially in my position.

"We know these next few games will be a little bit tricky just as we're adjusting and we feel confident we can win but we're going to be positive no matter what."

Koponen's ability to instill confidence in the playing group and the camaraderie in the team had helped the Breakers to be sitting near the top of the ladder at the mid-way point of the season, Pineau said.

"I really like Kop a lot I like the way he relates to his players he's given a lot of us a ton of confidence when we go out there.

"You see the growth in some players for example Sean Bairstow when he came in he was still finding his feet in the NBL and the new pace and the coaches and Kop gave him a lot of confidence and now he's really been rolling and we needed him when guys got injured so that's been awesome to see."

How would second season Breaker Pineau rate the season so far?

"I don't think you can grade us any lower than an A. I think people didn't have high expectations of us but it's shown if you believe in yourselves and work really hard, and we have been working really hard, and you can surprise a lot of people."

Should the Breakers struggle at any point over the remainder of the season Pineau was sure they would still be in a good place.

"We've got the record at the minute where we could withstand that and stay in the right spot in the rankings but I just think that the mentality of the group is there to overcome something like that and the way that we work in practice will help us push through any period like that."

The Breakers have a run of home games around the country in December where fans will be able to see Fall in action - the tallest player to ever play in the NBL.

As Koponen said: "We're in the entertainment business".