Basketball: Tall talent shuffled as season set for tip-off

Former Harlem Globetrotter Festus "Fess" Hawkins will tower over the domestic basketball season at an impressive 2.11m.

The new Wellington Saints import will appear in the NBL pre-season tournament this weekend.

There is a rash of signing of United States imports and a good number of Australians returning to the NBL in the season which opens on Friday March 18, although not all will be on display this weekend.

The Auckland Stars have agreed to allow their Breakers players some holiday time after the Aussie season and will not have Aaron Olson for the first month of the season and Dillon Boucher for the first two weeks.

They have yet to negotiate with Aussie Blake Truslove, but Casey Frank is one import and they have signed Waikato point guard Glen Joe, while Daneil Barritt has gone to the Titans and Ben Valentine to college in the United States.

Coach Kenny Stone rates them as being ahead of where they were this time last year. The search continues for a second import, likely to be a centre or forward.

North Harbour

The Heat have appointed former Santa Rosa junior college coach Steve Done as coach and added fringe Tall Blacks forward Daryl Cartwright from Hawkes Bay and Prem Krishna from Waikato, plus Hayden Allen and Mark Bracewell from Otago. Judd Flavell, Dan Ryan and Valance McCarthy return.

Waikato

The Titans will benefit from an old association between new coach Tim McTamney and American point guard Rick Randall, the pair last got together at the Jets five years ago.

Aussie Geordie Cullen returns as second import and Tall Blacks captain Pero Cameron is back, with his junior model physique-wise in Ben Hill. Rumour has it Hill's brother Ollie will shun Nelson to move to the Titans. Luke Martin (Manawatu Jets), Jeff Niwa and Dylan Chase (Harbour) move in.

Taranaki

The Mountain Airs have signed Tall Black and Cairns forward Tony Rampton. Expat Americans Link Abrams and Willie Banks are back and both qualify as residents. Mike Thompson is re-signed.

The Airs were still considering whether to seek a second import and were looking at an Aussie point guard recommended by Rampton. Warren Osbourne backs up as coach.

Hawkes Bay

The Hawks have Shawn Dennis back as coach and like Taranaki should be a major force in the league, with Adelaide 36ers top-scorer Dusty Rychart joining Adrian Majstrovich and Paul Henare.

Wellington

The Saints have Tall Blacks Brendon Polyblank and Troy McLean back along with Aussie Ben Knight and the tall man Hawkins from Arkansas. Mike McHugh backs up as coach.

Manawatu

The Jets have Adelaide's David Cooper back as one import and American Mike Coleman as their second after he spent two seasons in the Australian state league. Darren Larsen steps up from the assistant coaching position, but it looks like a year of adjustment for the Jets.

Nelson

The Giants have lost forward Darnell McCulloch with a foot fracture, but have signed Michael Buggs to play power-forward and shooting guard Mike Spanich, brought from the US to replace long-term servant Phill Jones. Lance Baker's involvement is uncertain as he recovers from a car crash. So is that of Ollie Hill, possibly going to Waikato, and Tu Umaga-Marshall, who was signed for two years.

Umaga-Marshall was trialling with the Saints, who signed him to a one-year deal subject to release by Nelson, but that is yet to be granted.

Returning to the Giants are Tall Black Ed Book and Breaker Mika Vukona along with Mark Jones, with Ben Jeffrey shifting from Canterbury.

Canterbury

The Rams have Pete McAllister back as coach and Dave Langrell to arrive late again from Ireland. Veteran Clifton "Super" Bush is to go another season, along with 2004 players Jeremy Kench, Tim Edmonds, Andrew Johnstone, Rewi Manahi and Glen Bremner.

Rumour has long-serving forward Andrew Gardiner considering a come-back.

Imports are Americans Ryan Prillman, a centre, and Michael Gardener, point guard. They, too, are in rebuilding phase but the team showed promise at the end of last season after a bad start.

Otago

The Nuggets look like being the weak link in an otherwise strong league. The starting five is gone, Aussies Michael Kingma and Andrew Latimer back home, Hayden Allen to the Breakers, Michael Fitchett to Nelson and Leonard King has retired.

New coach Bernd Kupka has been upbeat, but starts with two-season Harbour player Jason Greig as his most experienced player, the rest promising juniors.

The three-day pre-season tournament at the Wellington Events Centre starts Friday.

Basketball New Zealand has agreed a television coverage deal with TV2 and delayed coverage of Friday night games will appear at 10.30pm starting with the Auckland-Canterbury NBL opener on March 18.