Marc Mitchell: Breakers owner on the start of the new season

0:00You're listening to the Weeknd Sport Podcast with Jason Fein from News Talks at B. The only game is Sport in town this afternoon. The new Australian National Basketball League season is upon us and the breakers. Start their season today. They have a new look, a new coach, plenty of new faces and a renewed emphasis on reconnecting one of New Zealand basketballs. Most successful sporting brands with its roots. At the centre of that reset is the man who took majority ownership of the club. The key we American businessmen with a background in technology media and in sport, Mark Mitchell has talked about rebuilding the foundations of the breakers, bringing back the academy, investing in the community and ultimately restoring the club to championship contention. He's brought in a World Cup winning coach in Gordon Herbert, reshaped the roster and given the club a fresh identity. The breakers open the season to home against El-Awara, Sparger reign of this afternoon at 5. Mark Mitchell is with us. Thanks for joining us. Mark, how are you feeling on the eve of a new season?

1:04Thanks, Paiany. I'm feeling great. I was telling the guys yesterday for me the first game of the season is like Christmas morning. It's so much fun. All the work that's been put into the team on and off the court in the off season. We finally get to see that in action. It's one of my favorite days of the year. You went around the world looking for a coach you've landed with World Cup winning coach in Gordon Herbert. What was it about him that convinced you he was the right man to lead this team? Well, obviously it starts with his pedigree. If we can get one of the world's best coaches, a World Cup winning coach got to give it a shot. Once we started our conversations with him, it became clear that it was a two-way street. He wanted to come to New Zealand. He wanted to come to the NBL. He saw what we were building here. We wanted him to be a part of that and to lead that. For me, it was a no-brainer. If we could pull it off, we were going to do it. Everybody was doubting that little old New Zealand could bring this World Cup winning coach to its shores.

2:11We pulled it off and he's been great. He's a great leader and a very, very respected coach. The preseason results have been great. The regular season about to begin. Because he's a new coach with a new team, Mark, do you expect patients to be required or do you expect results pretty quickly under Gordon Herbert? Well, I think we all know that this league is really, really tough. It's very, very close top to bottom. There's a lot of parity. You can't come out of the gate slowly. I think everybody recognizes that the team's been training with that in mind. We started the preseason well. The team is working well together. There is a little bit of a time period where you're ramping up as you're feeling things out at the beginning of the season. But I think we start knowing that we've got to come out of the gates. Ready to go, right away. I've heard you say you want to bring the breakers back to their New Zealand routes. What does that actually mean in practical terms? It's everything. We look at our rebrand that we just did that we're very happy with.

3:12We've done an incredible film with Israel Adesanya doing the voiceover. Another New Zealand legend. I think the rebrand was about getting connected to our people and the land and the roots of the country. That's reflected in how everything looks. But more importantly day to day, we're also doing things like bringing back our academy. That's something I promised from day one. We are now doing it. We've got our first class of players who are playing in the academy. These are players who are at the elite level of high school. Hopefully one day they'll be breakers. But if they're not, they'll play basketball in different arenas. They'll play hopefully in college. They'll use basketball as a tool to see the world, to get an education, to learn about teamwork, sportsmanship, and all the great lessons that come with the sport. You've also spoken about taking best practice from around the world and putting a little kiwi dust on it. I like that.

4:12What are some of the things you've seen overseas that you think can genuinely work here? Part of it is a fan experience. I think our fans on Sunday will see a completely different... I shouldn't say completely. An enhanced game day experience that will be a lot of fun. I think it'll be very unique for what we see here in New Zealand. So that would be one. And all of the lessons that we've learned in how we've staffed up our team on the front office side as well come from best practices around the world. There's not a lot of faith in Dylan Boucher and the basketball department, obviously. As owner and a huge basketball fan, obviously how difficult is it to resist the temptation of getting involved in the basketball decisions when I guess ultimately you're the guy who's signing the checks? It's a good question, but I have complete trust in Dylan. He's been wonderful in his role. Not only building the team on the court, but building the culture. So that starts with the hiring of Gordy, our staff, which is a mix of people from Germany, New Zealand, and obviously Gordy's from Canada and Finland.

5:20He's a dual citizen. So we've got a global staff, but two of our assistants have New Zealand roots. And that's really important to have that connectivity. We have several guys on our team who play for the tall blacks. We've got coaches who coach the under 19 team for the national New Zealand team. So for us, we're part of this larger ecosystem. And Dylan runs that from a basketball perspective. So I have complete faith and trust in him. And he's done a wonderful job. I know that one of the priorities for you and for the basketball department was the retention of Parker Jackson, Kat Wright. What does he represent to the breakers beyond the stats that he seems to produce night after night on the court? So this will be Parker's fourth year with the club. And I think that's rare. You'd usually don't see imports stay with the club for multiple years. So in our case, Parker is an MVP level player. We all know that he is dazzling on the court. So much fun to watch. But he absolutely loves New Zealand.

6:23And so when you have a player who considers this place home and wants to be here and we want him, we had to make sure that that happened. And you know, my plan is for him to be around here for a long time. And so we're even working towards figuring out how he can become a New Zealand citizen and represent the tall blacks on the global stage. So that's how much he cares about this country and how committed he is. So good to have him on the roster again. You've talked about moving on from the previous era rebuilding foundations without wanting to dwell too much on the past mark. What specifically did you think had been lost that you felt needed to be restored? Well, the connection to the community. Again, that starts with the academy. There's no reason that that should have ever gone away. And that was one of my first priorities. In addition to that, we built out the junior breakers program. So we have hundreds and hundreds of kids who come through our facility every week, who play in leagues, who learn the game and learn all the lessons I come with the game.

7:23For us too, it was an entire refurbishment of our office. We had to build a whole new staff and I feel great about how that has developed. So I think our staff is top notch with gotten people who've come in from all different countries who want to be a part of this. You know, obviously it's mostly Kiwi, but there are people who have seen what we're building and want to be a part of it. And that's some of the coaching staff and some of the front office staff as well. So to me, it's about getting world class people to be a part of this organization. And I think that's what we're doing. How deep is your championship ambition? That's it. End of story. End of question. That's why we play. We want to lift trophies. When we redid our office here, we built a new display displaying our four championship trophies. And of course we also have the logins, Bruton trophy and the night cup trophy. But the championship trophies are the most important. So they are prominent. They are front and center in our office. And of course we have space to add some more. So that is what drives everything. And you know, that's that's the goal for for our entire organization. Our organization is on the court and off the court.

8:40And we want to be at a championship level on all parts. You've got the history, the banners, the trophies, a new identity, World Cup winning coach, a terrific roster and championship ambition. What would it mean to you personally, Mark, to walk into that building and and see another banner go up there, see another trophy on display where you've made room for it. That's the goal. That's why we're working so hard. And so I know I would feel great. We've got a long way between now and then to get there. But that's what our that's what our ambition is every day we walk into work. Season opens on Sunday against the Illawara Hawks. Can't wait to see how the team goes. Mark, thanks for chatting to us this afternoon. Look forward to catching up throughout the season. Thanks, Piny. Really appreciate it. Now appreciate you joining us, Mark. Mark Mitchell there, the the majority owner of the New Zealand breakers who opened this season this afternoon against the Illawara Hawks five o'clock at Spark Arena. For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Pine, listen live to News Talk ZB Weekends from midday or follow the podcast on IHud Radio.