NZ Breakers' woeful shooting display in game two of the Australian NBL finals is described as "putrid" by former player-turned-commentator Casey Frank.
Sydney Kings have leveled the NBL finals series at one win apiece, after beating the Breakers 81-74 at Spark Arena.
With a success rate of just 36 percent from the field, the home side were well below their best, leaving them searching for answers, before game three back in Sydney on Friday.
"That kind of shooting, from all aspects, was pretty putrid," Frank told Newshub. "You don't want that stink to follow you across the Tasman."
The Breakers needed almost five minutes to score their first points of the contest and only managed a total of nine in the first quarter, then just 11 in the third.
Frank believes Sydney's change in their defensive scheme - moving from man-to-man to zone - helped shut the hosts down, an adjustment made primarily due to the early loss of stars Xavier Cooks and Derrick Walton Jr to injury.
But Frank - who spent three separate seasons with the Breakers during his long career - is confident coach Mody Maor will find a solution.
"When defences get that aggressive with you, I think there's a really good opportunity for some counters in the backdoor, highpost flashes," he noted.
"You have to find a way to use that aggressiveness against the defence."
The participation of Kings MVP superstar Cook in the remainder of the finals series now seems even more uncertain, after the Australian signed on with Washington Wizards for the rest of the NBA season - a development that could bode well for the Breakers.
"He's got to be at least a little bit trepidatious to injure himself any further," Frank added. "You have to think that he'd be looking at making sure his body is going to be in a place where it can go on to that next stage, but that's tough to do when you have a championship lying there [waiting]."
Game three in the best-of-five series tips off at Qudos Bank Arena at 9:30pm (NZ time).
