Basketball: Breakers ditch Melmeth

By PETER JESSUP

After playing just half a season with the Breakers, Australian centre Ben Melmeth is on his way out, and his replacement will almost certainly be a big American.

The Auckland-based club also confirmed yesterday that they had signed Tall Blacks Paul Henare and Aaron Olson for a further two seasons.

They now have five Tall Blacks on the roster, plus import Mike Chappell and Australian Blake Truslove.

They already have tapes of players they are interested in as their last big buy, and coach Frank Arsego may be about to travel to the United States to check them out in the flesh.

NBL teams are not allowed to negotiate with players until a fortnight after the grand final. That deadline expires this weekend, but already the Breakers have advised other clubs they have no problem with anyone talking to Melmeth.

He was a committed player when available, but started only 17 games due to persistent groin and foot injuries. His 42 per cent shooting accuracy was his lowest since starting in the NBL in 1996.

So the Breakers will be looking for an American centre/forward - someone who can add strikepower - to join Pero Cameron, Dillon Boucher, Phill Jones, Henare, Olson and Truslove.

"The Kiwis can lead us to success. They all improved during the season," general manager Peter Chapman said. "If we can snare another player of a calibre of Mike Chappell, and I believe we will, then we're going to give the competition a real shake."

There was interest from American players in the US and Europe because New Zealand was seen as a safe environment, Chapman said.

The club has NBL support for the move to the Waitakere Trusts Stadium, and is likely to have two home games to open their season, against Cairns on October 1 and the champion Kings on October 9.