NZ Breakers coach Petteri Koponen open to return as club signs off with Ignite Cup tilt

Sunday, 22 February 2026

Petteri Koponen and the Breakers take in the end of their 115-84 victory over Cairns to wrap up their NBL regular season.

What: NBL Ignite Cup final. Who: NZ Breakers v Adelaide 36ers. Where: Gold Coast Convention Centre. When: Sunday, 6.30pm (NZT). Coverage: ESPN, Disney+.

The New Zealand Breakers will look to sign off on an ultimately disappointing Australian NBL season on Sunday in the Gold Coast with a finishing flourish, though will do so with the future of their head coach hanging in the balance.

The Auckland-based club wrapped up their regular season in style on Thursday by pumping the Cairns Taipans 115-84 in Auckland, signing off on a 13-20 regular season, and seventh spot out of 10 teams.

That’s one spot off the post-season picture, and represents a disappointing result for a four-time championship club with loftier ambitions. It’s the second straight year the Breakers, under young head coach Petteri Koponen, have missed out on playoffs hoops.

But they still have the chance to lift silverware when they line up in Sunday’s Ignite Cup in-season tournament final on the Gold Coast against the Adelaide 36ers who looked set to finish up second overall on the standings. The little matter of a A$300,000 winner’s prize will provide added incentive for both teams.

The Sixers, led by MVP favourite Bryce Cotton, will go on to play in the finals after Sunday’s final, and a short break for Fiba international play. The Breakers, on the other hand, will start their off-season as soon as they walk off the court, with the future of their coach paramount among those considerations.

Koponen, a likeable, thorough and passionate type still finding his feet as a coach after a long career as a professional, is effectively off contract with the fixed part of his deal now over. The ball is mostly in the club’s court around a return, though the Finn will also have a say in what plays out.

Breakers centre Sam Mennenga was a force against the Cairns Taipans on Thursday night.

Koponen told the Star-Times before heading to the Gold Coast he was amenable to coming back for a third season, and admitted to “unfinished business” with a group that was improving, but still had major steps to take. But he conceded there were other considerations in play, including his own willingness to leave a young family back in Finland to pursue his career.

“At the end of the [season] we sit with [president of basketball operations] Dillon [Boucher],” said Koponen, who felt a decision would be made sooner rather than later. “We talk, we see what the club thinks about our season, and then we move from there

“I’ll also sit down with the players for exit [interviews], what’s good, bad and how can we improve. I enjoy being here. I think we got better this year, but, as always, you want to compete, and the next step is those little margins to challenge those top teams.”

Asked if he would like to return, Koponen replied: “Yeah, why not? I like it here. My family enjoy the months here. That’s the big topic also for me with kids, their school, and they are at a hard age. The biggest thing for me is you always think how selfish can I be?

“Other than that I enjoyed my time. The club tried to do things the right way, they have a vision to build something sustainable and make the Breakers great again.”

Petteri Koponen: ‘We got better this year, but, as always, you want to compete, and the next step is to challenge those top teams.’

Asked at the end of a campaign where his team demonstrated palpably it could go toe to toe with the the best teams in the league, but also dropped a number of eminently winnable games, whether there was a feeling the club was still a work in progress, he smiled and nodded.

“It’s always a work in progress. You’re always trying to improve, who are new players, what can we do better? Our travel is always the challenge, and the league has definitely gotten better. It’s about how we can challenge those better teams.”

The other big decision will be around how deep they are prepared to dig to keep star Kiwi big man Sam Mennenga who returned from three weeks out with a wrist fracture on Thursday to torch the Taipans for 32 points and 9 boards, while missing just four of 19 shots. With his size and speed, he was near unstoppable in the paint, and will be a key figure in the Breakers’ tilt at lifting the silverware on the GC.

Mennenga is off contract after Sunday, and is considered the most sought-after of the NBL’s free-agents. He is expected to field lucrative offers, and not just from NBL teams.

“Those local bigs are important,” noted Koponen. “There are not too many of them. This is a big topic for us. Are we able to keep him? What might it take? This is more a question for management. Sam had an amazing season and is one of the best players in the league.”

The Breakers hope to have guards Izaiah Brockington (hip flexor) and Tai Webster (calf) available for Sunday’s final after both sat out for Cairns. Koponen said all hands on deck would be needed against a quality Sixers outfit.

“We have to bring the same energy and effort as against Cairns,” he said. “We know the challenge is a different level with Adelaide. They are a really good basketball team with many weapons. It’s not only Bryce, even if he killed us a few times.

“We have an opportunity, and we just have to be better every possession, and finish the game right. It’s a big opportunity. I’ve been around pro basketball for 20 years, and it’s not every season you have the chance to win something. We have to enjoy the moment and play as hard as possible.”