Basketball: Breakers looking for home and away talent

The Breakers are talking seriously with Lindsay Tait and Mika Vukona and are also checking out the Saints' Troy McLean and Brendon Polyblank, together with Auckland's Mike Homik.

But the franchise wants to make it clear that it is not "Australianising" the playing roster. Put the goods before me and I'll take notice, is Lemanis' attitude.

"I'm getting an appreciation for what's going on [in the domestic league] and for those guys.

"We will look throughout New Zealand, giving kids a fair go and we'll look to put them in the team, provided they're good enough."

He has also spoken to Wellington's Craig Bradshaw, who is heading back to the United States. Brent Charleton, who came back from Canada and is at North Harbour is also in the mix and so is Canterbury's Clifton Bush.

But the focus is on seeking a second American points-scorer to balance Mike Chappell's game up front.

Ben Pepper's signing is finally expected to be announced within the next day or so.

Heat after revenge

The Harbour Heat fancy their chances of reversing the result of last Sunday's game at New Plymouth, when the Taranaki Airs play at the North Shore Events Centre on Sunday.

The Heat played Nelson in Auckland on Saturday night and were on the bus at 6am for a long journey south.

Not on the bus were forward Daryl Cartwright, whose wife was expecting, and Hayden Allen, who had a blood clot in his quadricep. Imports Mike King (sprained ankle) and Matt Lottich (calf strain) were there, but didn't play well as the Heat lost by 16 points.

Allen is expected to play on Saturday night. Cartwright will definitely play and Lottich and King have recovered.

So it's the Airs who have to travel and play, with Auckland first up on Friday night at Trusts Stadium, where the Stars were totally eclipsed in a second period as they drifted away against Nelson to concede 28 points.

"After that first quarter we looked like we felt we had it won, but we lacked any execution for the rest of the game. Hopefully it's a big wake-up call," said coach Kenny Stone.

The Stars won the first encounter between the sides by 10 points early in the season, shutting down Airs guard Brad Davidson.

But Davidson was new to the line-up and Stone expects him to contribute more on Friday night.

"They're a big side that rebounds the ball well. They have Davidson outside and Link Abrams inside. We can't give them a chance or, like Nelson, they'll take it."

Henare running hot

Paul Henare was player of the week for round nine of the league on the back of his 28 points/13 assists/seven rebounds in a 103-90 hawks win over Waikato Titans in Napier.

Henare, the reigning champion, is again leading the league in his bid for a third assist title.

His 13 against Waikato was a team record and it equalled the best performance since the competition switched to four 10-minute quarters in 2001.

Return well-timed

Junior Tall Fern Micaela Cocks made a well-timed return to the Harbour Breeze last week to help them topple defending champions the Canterbury Wildcats 85-80.

Cocks, who attended Takapuna Grammar last year, commuted to the Waikato Lady Titans for last year's women's league and spent the past few months in Turkey under the guidance of coach Tab Baldwin.

She rejoined the Breeze for their top-of-the-table clash over the weekend, contributing 29 points and five assists as Harbour maintained their unbeaten record (5-0).

Cocks is considering her options at American colleges.

White-line fever

You could forgive Basketball New Zealand coach and player development manager Gordy Mcleod for suffering from white-line fever lately.

The former West Sydney Razorbacks coach is in the middle of a North Island tour consisting of 16 clinics at 11 venues over nine days.

The schedule will take McLeod through Auckland, Whangarei, Kaitaia, Hamilton, Paeroa, Opotiki, Rotorua, Tauranga and Te Awamutu. He will be joined over the later stages of his trip by referees manager Alan Godden.

McLeod recently completed a similar trek around the South Island, running 23 clinics at 11 venues.