Basketball On The Internet.

COMFORTABLY today completing their second win of the NBL's PreSeason Blitz and with import Izaiah Brockington at the forefront claiming the Ray Borner MVP Medal, New Zealand left pundits scratching their heads and rethinking where to place the Breakers in Season 25-26 calculations.

Kiwi players such as Reuben Te Rangi and Izayah Le'Afa, drawn back into the fold from mainland Australian teams - with Rob Loe also to come - played with a renewed zest absent from their most recent past destinations, giving the Breakers a New Zealand flavour again.

Today, as they sped past a depleted Cairns outfit 94-75 to close the tournament at Canberra's AIS Arena as its champion and Loggins-Bruton Trophy-winner, New Zealand also had its issues, losing playmaking wiz Parker Jackson-Cartwright after only 3:41 to a rib injury.

No problem though, as Te Rangi (20 points, 6 rebounds) was in a menacing frame of mind, Sam Mennenga (18 points) relishing playing against his initial NBL club, and Carlin Davison athletically adding a couple of highlight reel moments.

Brockington too was spectacular, his tournament returns averaging 20.0ppg, 9.0rpg, 3apg and 2.5spg. The Breakers have unearthed another good one, but the Blitz spotlit more than its fair share of exciting new faces and others ready to step up a rung.

South East Melbourne closed its Blitz with a flourish, Kings championship hero Angus Glover leading the Phoenix onslaught with 20 points including 6-of-10 threes.

When Vrenz Bleijenberg struck a jumpshot in the face of a desperate Jaylin Galloway to stretch the halftime lead to 55-42, Sydney already looked "gone".

The lack of intensity or desperation, other than in odd spurts, was the biggest disappointment, with absentees Kendric Davis and Keli Leaupepe unlikely to change that aspect too dramatically.

While Sydney looked a little too much like last season's under-achiever, the Phoenix were flying, none higher than Jordan Hunter whose block of a Tim Soares slam in the third was indicative of how differently the two teams were approaching this.

New import John Brown was having fun, Nathan Sobey with 11, 9 and 6, and Owen Foxwell dishing nine assists while irritating Matthew Dellavedova.

As the Blitz closed, nine teams showed enough glimpses to be approaching NBL 26 with a level of confidence. The Kings were the other one.

BLITZ SCORES:

Perth Wildcats 84 (Henshall 16, Windler, Okwera 12, Mayen 10; Henshall 7 rebs; 3 with 2 assts) d Melbourne United 78 (Doyle 15, Edwards 13, Delany 12; Edwards 9 rebs; Doyle 3 assts) at AIS Arena. Q-Q: 23-17, 21-22, 24-29, 16-10. Blitz Pts: Perth 5, Melbourne 2

Adelaide 36ers 104 (White 20, Vasiljevic 17, Cameron 16, Kubank 14, Griscti 13, Cheatham 10; Cheatham 6 rebs; White 6 assts) d Illawarra Hawks 83 (Hickey 14, Grida 12, Swaka Lo Buluk, Blanchfield 11; Grida 10 rebs; H.Froling 3 assts) at AIS Arena. Q-Q: 23-17, 21-21, 31-23, 29-22. Blitz Pts: Adelaide 6.5, Illawarra 0.5

Brisbane Bullets 100 (Freeman-Liberty 27, Adams 18, Prather 16, Dalton 10; McDaniel, Smith-Milner 6 rebs; Adams 6 assts) d Sydney Kings 92 (Soares 22, Leaupepe 14, Cooks 12, Galloway 10; Cooks 9 rebs; Dellavedova 10 assts) at AIS Arena. Q-Q: 18-28, 24-21, 31-22, 27-21. Blitz Pts: Brisbane 6, Sydney 1

Tasmania JackJumpers 97 (Hamilton 25, Bannan 22, Campbell 14, Deng 10; Bannan 11 rebs; Campbell 8 assts) d Cairns Taipans 95 (Schofield 24, McVeigh 18, Stattmann 17, Galloway 12, Waardenburg 11; Lee 11 rebs; Stattman 6 assts) in overtime {87-87} at AIS Arena. Q-Q: 18-7, 27-33, 19-23, 23-24*, 10-8*. Blitz Pts: Tasmania 5, Cairns 2

New Zealand Breakers 109 (Brockington 22, Mennenga 20, Te Rangi, Jackson-Cartwright 15, Darling 14, Bairstow 12; Brockington 13 rebs; Jackson Cartwright 5 assts) d South East Melbourne Phoenix 101 (Hunter 21, Lewis 15, Sobey 13, Foxwell, Glover, Maldonado 11, Mitchell 10; Lewis, Sobey 6 rebs; Sobey 5 assts) at AIS Arena. Q-Q: 31-27, 28-26, 27-22, 23-26. Blitz Pts: New Zealand 6, South East 1

Illawarra Hawks 100 (McLaughlin 24, Harvey 22, Peatling 21, Blanchfield 14, Bolden 10; Blanchfield, Bolden 7 rebs; McLaughlin 5 assts) d Perth Wildcats 92 (Windler 27, Okwera 12, Pepper 11; Russo-Nance 8 rebs; Rillie, Russo-Nance, Henshall 5 assts) at AIS Arena. Q-Q: 26-34, 22-28, 34-21, 18-9. Blitz Pts: Illawarra 5, Perth 2

Melbourne United 98 (Walker 18, Delany 15, Edwards 14, Bowen 10; Edwards 11 rebs; Walker 6 assts) d Brisbane Bullets 60 (Smith-Milner 16, Adams 10; Bradtke, Purchase 5 rebs; Freeman-Liberty 4 assts) at AIS Arena. Q-Q: 20-11, 23-28, 21-17, 34-4. Blitz Pts: Melbourne 6, Brisbane 1

Tasmania Jack Jumpers 97 (Johnson 25, Bannan 15, Magnay 14, Deng 13, Campbell 10; Magnay 8 rebs; Campbell 8 assts) d Adelaide 36ers 95 (Harris, White 18, Cheatham 17, Cameron 15, Vasiljevic 14; Cheatham 6 rebs; White 5 assts) at AIS Arena. Q-Q: 21-22, 23-19, 32-27, 21-27. Blitz Pts: Tasmania 5, Adelaide 2

South East Melbourne Phoenix 102 (Glover 20, Maldonado 14, Brown 13, Bleijenberg 12, Mitchell, Sobey 11, Lewis 10; Sobey 9 rebs; Foxwell 9 assts) d Sydney Kings 81 (Soares 14, Galloway 13, Maluach, Dellavedova 11, Noi 10; Soares 8 rebs; Dellavedova 8 assts) at AIS Arena. Q-Q: 28-16, 27-26, 22-23, 25-16. Blitz Pts: South East Melbourne 6, Sydney 1

New Zealand Breakers 94 (Te Rangi 20, Brockington, Mennenga 18, Bairstow 12, Le'Afa 11; Bairstow, Te Rangi 6 rebs; Le'Afa 7 assts) d Cairns Taipans 75 (Stattman 15, Higgins-Titsha 13, Galloway 12; Higgins-Titsha 10 rebs; Adnam, Waardenburg 4 assts) at AIS Arena. Q-Q: 26-25, 26-17, 25-21, 17-12. Blitz Pts: New Zealand 7, Cairns 0.

Loggins-Bruton Trophy: New Zealand Breakers

Ray Borner Medal (MVP): Izaiah Brockington