Will McDowell-White’s NZ Breakers gamble hits paydirt with dream trip to NBL grand final

When do-it-all Breakers point guard Will McDowell-White revealed he was all-in on Mody Maor and coming back to the New Zealand Breakers for a third season of NBL hoops, even his own family questioned the sanity of his decision.

Now, who’s crazy? McDowell-White and the New Zealand Breakers are just three games from an NBL championship, with only defending champions the Sydney Kings standing between them and a fairytale bounceback from two years of Covid-inflicted misery. And the talented playmaker is also just weeks from a free-agent bidding frenzy that is set to pay him handsomely

An intriguing best-of-five trans-Tasman grand final series opens on Friday night at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney (9.30pm tip) and will then cross the ditch for Sunday’s second contest at a sold-out Spark Arena in Auckland (6pm tip). It shapes as a captivating matchup between two deep, talented and well-matched rosters and a pair of teams who, to say the least, embrace contrasting styles.

It’s slick, speedy, free-scoring Sydney who play with pace and space, zip the ball around like it’s a pinball, and can roll out of bed and post 100 points against grit-n-grind, defence-first, slow-it-down New Zealand who prefer a more calculated offence and like you to earn every point you get against them.

READ MORE:
* Rejuvenated Jarrell Brantley hopes ‘special’ NZ Breakers group can sign off in style
* Respect, resolve on show as NZ Breakers and Sydney Kings focus on the basketball
* The low post: How Rob Loe found joy again on Breakers’ run to NBL grand final

It’s flair and finesse against muscle and hustle. It’s Aussie against Kiwi – the regular season’s No 1 offensive side against the No 1 defenders. It’s last season’s champs against the outright chumps who went 5-23 on the road trip from hell and very nearly imploded.

And McDowell-White, the starting point guard and key decision-maker for Maor’s Breakers, knows there is nowhere he would rather be right now than helming a Kiwi club looking to once again hijack an Australian league’s showpiece series and claim a fifth title in their 20-year history.

The 24-year-old Queenslander, and son of AFL legend Darryl White, actually never thought he would be back for ‘22-23, after doing the hard yards with the Breakers over the troublesome, peripatetic two previous Covid seasons where the club won more plaudits than they did games, going a combined 17-47.

But then Maor phoned him early in the off-season, uttered the only four words that could have changed his mind – “I got the job” – and suddenly he was signing on the dotted line, disappointing a string of suitors.

“I know a lot of people were questioning my decision to come back – even my own family,” McDowell-White told Stuff ahead of Friday’s opener. “It’s extremely satisfying to see it’s paid off. I don’t think anyone in the world believes in Mody more than myself, but I never figured we’d be in this position. It’s really cool how it’s all come together.”

In terms of the attention he’s getting round next season, with recent Australian media reports tagging him “a target for multiple clubs, including Perth, Brisbane and South East Melbourne”, McDowell-White just smiles.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t even see it if the boys didn’t show me. It is what it is. Whatever is being said I haven’t heard anything. My agent hasn’t said a word to me about it yet. We’ve got more important things to think about than that right now.”

Clearly his heady play for the Breakers – he’s averaging 10.3 points, 6.0 assists and 4.9 rebounds on the season – has enhanced his value. A string of opposition coaches have labelled him a key for the Kiwis as he initiates their offence off the high on-ball and is such an effective decision-maker.

“Of course, winning helps,” he adds. “It seems like everyone on this team is having an unbelievable season. I’d say I’m not the only one getting this attention.”

He’s right. This is a solid group he quarterbacks, from the best import trio in the league (Jarrell Brantley, Barry Brown Jr and Dererk Pardon will be a handful for the Kings), to key Kiwis Tom Abercrombie, Izayah Le’afa and Rob Loe, to French teen phenom Rayan Rupert (he of the 7’3 wingspan), there is a reason a gaggle of Aussie hoops pundits are tipping a Breakers triumph.

But McDowell-White has mad respect for Xavier Cooks and his own solid supporting cast at the Kings. They are defending champs and No 1 seeds for a reason, and they bring plenty of headaches of their own.

”It is two polar opposites,” he says of the matchup. “We feel like we have some mismatches we can exploit, and they would be the same. We’ve shown we can win in different ways, and they can as well, They’re just as deep, just as talented. I feel like we’ve been through a lot more adversity, so that might be one little edge.”

As for league MVP Cooks, with his Inspector Gadget arms and staggering dexterity, McDowell White says: “You can never shut down Xave – you’ve just got to win that first bump. We don’t want to give him as much space as other teams have, because if he gets that runup and momentum to the rim, he’s tough to stop.”

The Breakers were quietly confident when they crossed the Tasman on Wednesday, helped by the knowledge they rolled the Kings last time out in their house without key scorers Brown and Le’afa. But this is the real deal now. Time for McDowell-White to go out and get those watching clubs even more excited.

Sydney Kings v NZ Breakers – 3 key matchups

Xavier Cooks v Jarrell Brantley: The best all-round players on their teams will have a big say in this series. Brantley must stay out of foul trouble and the Breakers must get the ball out of Cooks’ hands whenever possible.

Derrick Walton Jr v Barry Brown Jr: Not a strict head to head, with Walton starting at PG and Brown coming off the bench to lead his team in scoring. But these are two explosive types who could win a game on their own.

Justin Simon v Tom Abercrombie: Maybe the two best defenders in this series. They’ll both have important roles as stoppers, and will be looked to for offensive sparks in small bursts.