Basketball: Tait signs up for Breakers again

By PETER JESSUP

The Breakers have signed guard Lindsay Tait for another year, bringing their roster for next season to eight.

Tait is the best up-and-coming basketballer in New Zealand and has featured heavily for the Auckland Stars in the domestic league, scoring an average 21 points in their 14 games.

It is that consistency that convinced Breakers coach Frank Arsego that the 22-year-old should be part of the team.

He said Tait had worked hard on weaknesses that had been identified in his game and last season he had committed himself to the Breakers programme.

"If young basketballers want a good role model then he is the kind of example you hold out," said Arsego.

Tait would have more challenges this season because he would no longer be an unknown quantity to the Australians.

Last year he played 20 games out of 33 and scored from 44 out of 90 field goal attempts; he made 28 assists and 20 turnovers.

Tait joins captain Pero Cameron, Paul Henare, Dillon Boucher, Phill Jones, Aaron Olson, Blake Truslove and Mike Chappell in the Breakers' roster.

The coach and management are now seeking a big centre and a power forward. American Frank Barr has three more games with Taranaki to prove he is the answer.

Tait, who is on the verge of Tall Blacks selection, said he was keen to be part of the Breakers long-term. He will sit down with the management mid-season to discuss extending the contract.

He has worked on building up his left-hand play, after criticism that he was stronger on the right. "There's been lots of little things to work on, stuff you can get away with in the NZ league that is not so easy to get away with in the Australian competition," Tait said.

The Stars, with nine wins and five losses, host Hawkes Bay at the ASB Stadium tonight.