Parker Jackson-Cartwright is feeling the best physically he has all season. Photo: Blake Armstrong/Photosport
New Zealand Breakers import guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright says he's finally starting to feel like himself again.
Coming off a record-breaking night on his home court on Wednesday, that lead the Breakers to their first win of the NBL season, the American said he had heeded his coach's call to be more aggressive and was also physically feeling "better" than he had in weeks after an injury hindered start to the season.
"I had a harsh pre-season, just banged up, but I feel like I'm at a level now that I'm controlling my movements, I feel good."
What is also good is Jackson-Cartwright's stats from the Breakers' win over the Illawarra Hawks. He made an all-time club record 17 assists which also equaled a league record for the 40-minute game. He scored 20 points, made six rebounds and two steals in his 34 minutes on court.
It was a performance coach Petteri Koponen thought was reminiscent of Jackson-Cartwright's form in previous seasons with the Auckland club and one he hoped he would see again on Sunday against the South East Melbourne Phoenix in Auckland.
"I took a more aggressive approach entirely," Jackson-Cartwright said.
"[Koponen] had been harping on me to be not as passive and I gotta push the ball and when I do that it creates a lot of advantages for myself and my team mates.
"It's just something I had to revert back to which is being myself and not playing into defences hands."
Jackson-Cartwright is a focal point for the Breakers, and the other teams in the league, and he has his own standards he wants to live up to in his third season in the NBL.
New Zealand Breakers during a timeout. Photo: Blake Armstrong/Photosport
"Everybody has a role on this team, some roles are greater than others, but it doesn't mean that not everyone has the same goal.
"I'm just another player on the team that has a responsibility and I expect some things from myself and that's how I go about it."
However the 30-year-old is not satisfied after one standout performance.
"I know personally I can be better.
"I definitely want to be better than I am and that's what great players do, they chase better than what they were the previous game or previous practice.
"I'm not the most demonstrative guy vocally but I hope that I can lead by example and guys follow the lead and it just creates a domino effect for everybody to follow."
After early season shooting struggles the Breakers nailed 18 three-pointers against the Hawks and could not miss from the free-throw line.
Assistant coach Judd Flavell was realistic that those numbers would not be the same for the 28 remaining games of the regular season.
"The quality of the looks we generated were phenomenal and certainly something that we will continue to replicate, now whether or not we make them or miss them we've got to trust the process and we really like those shots we're getting," Flavell said.
"It really falls back onto guys running the floor and that's a lot easier to do when you're generating stops as well.
"We've struggled to stop opposition there's been no secret about that it was a real big focus for us. We managed to keep the Hawks to 88 points which was the first time we've kept a team under 100 and so that is a huge indicator of how our offence is going to look."
Having knocked over the defending champion Hawks, who are now the only winless team in the league, Flavell said "one of the biggest ingredients" that will contribute to the Breakers' overall success this season was the health of the roster.
"If you've got your players on the floor and you're able to build continuity that will result in the performance that we're trying to get to.
"Any championship team they have a good run with keeping bodies healthy and keeping their players on the floor."
While Jackson-Cartright was moving past some of the niggles, including a rib injury, that had limited some of his minutes both in games and on the practice court, Flavell said he was not the only player the club had been careful with during this short turnaround.
Taylor Britt is dealing with injury niggles. Photo: Blake Armstrong/Photosport
Taylor Britt was also managed during Friday's practice at the club's North Shore headquarters.
Flavell said workloads of several players would continue to be managed in and out of the games.
"Some guys didn't get to play as much [on Wednesday] and so today they're putting in some extras, some guys are a little bit banged up so we've been able to manage their bodies accordingly and it is all about the next game which is quickly upon us so we need to get through this stuff and planning and prepping for this game but at the same time we're always keeping an eye on our players' health."
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