By Chris Barclay of NZPA

Auckland, Feb 17 NZPA - He's been there, but it's a long time since he's done that -- and Tony Ronaldson, the Australian National Basketball League's most durable athlete, is hopeful one scoring drought is about to end.

The 36-year-old New Zealand Breakers forward became the NBL's most experienced player earlier this season when he eclipsed compatriot Andrew Gaze's previous mark of 612 appearances.

But another accolade has remained elusive -- a third championship ring for the double Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist.

Ronaldson's 635th game, against the Adelaide 36ers in Thursday night's sudden death quarter-final at the North Shore Events Centre, will allow him to zero in on his first title since winning in 1996 with the now defunct South East Melbourne Magic.

Ronaldson has been a regular feature in the post-season during a career that started in 1990. However, his last five grand final appearances have ended in disappointment, not delight.

He may have shrugged off second placings with the Magic, Victoria Titans and Perth Wildcats, but as his career approaches the home stretch Ronaldson is optimistic the previously unfancied Auckland franchise is on the verge of making history.

"The older you get the more you realise you're going to have less and less opportunities to win the title," he said.

"I feel we're in a great position here to do something this club hasn't done before. We're not going to make any outlandish statements that we're going to win the title but we believe we have the capability."

The first step was accomplished when finishing the regular season in third spot behind South Dragons and Melbourne Tigers -- despite an unhappy New Year that yielded just three wins from 10 starts.

Encouragingly, the 18-win 12-loss Breakers rounded out the regular season with wins over the Cairns Taipans and Sydney Spirit.

"It's important for our confidence," Ronaldson said.

"We were competitive in all the games we played, there were just minor moments where we had lapses that cost us.

"It was a horror stretch, we weren't enjoying it, but we did put into perspective.

"Every team has a taken a bit of hit sometime throughout the year. We've taken ours and now it's time to put that behind us. Melbourne (20-10) went through a tough patch at the start of the season, people were saying they'd win it all and be undefeated."

The 36ers were among the sides that took advantage of a below-strength Breakers' roster, clinching their three-game series with a 102-91 victory in Adelaide on February 7.

The squad watched a highlights package of the match after a workout today to assess a couple of key moments where the 36ers held sway, an amicable review process that Ronaldson felt would require few adjustments.

"The one thing about this group, whether we've won or lost, is we've always had faith in each other and what we do in our systems," he said.

"They haven't worked at times and we've had our ups and down but everyone has never pointed fingers and said `You're to blame'.

"Adelaide have a big offensive presence and they're great on the boards. That's something we've had to address and I think that's been one our strengths in the last couple of weeks, keeping our opponents offensive rebounding percentages down."

Ronaldson, who averages 13.1 points a game and 3.9 rebounds, correctly nominated 2.16-metre centre Luke Schenscher as a threat under the hoop.

The 36ers average a league-best 45 rebounds per game, thanks to Schenscher who snatched 309 in the regular season.

A former NBA player with Chicago and Portland, Schenscher is also a prolific scorer.

Against Wollongong last week he notched a career-high 37 points at 82 per cent.

"As far as I'm concerned, Luke has to be the (NBL) AllStar Five centre," 36ers coach Scott Ninnis said.

"In 30 games I don't think Luke has been defended legally and the truth is teams can't defend him legally," he said.

NZPA AKL cb cw