Basketball: Breakers sign US import

The New Zealand Breakers have settled on their American import to replace Mike Chappell.

Brant Bailey was named yesterday to fill the shoes of Chappell, who was last month granted a release from his contract with the Auckland-based Australian National Basketball League franchise so he could pursue playing options in the United States.

Bailey, reportedly adept as a shooting guard or power forward, will arrive in Auckland tomorrow and travel with the Breakers to Australia the next day for two pre-season games against the Melbourne Tigers.

Bailey, 28, is 2.02m and played for the Birmingham Bullets in England for three years before tasting action in the Polish and Dutch leagues from 2002 to 2004.

The Breakers said he was coming to Auckland, where he will join their other new American signing, Rich Melzer, highly recommended by a number of American scouts and European coaches and commentators.

"Brant was consistently praised as a very hard worker who can contribute at both ends of the court, taking the ball to the hoop strongly while also being an excellent defender and aggressive rebounder," Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis said.

"We believe Brant will bring the right mix of skills to our line-up. The addition of Brant and Rich Melzer really balances our team and gives us the right tools to be able to play the style of basketball we want to."

Bailey and Melzer are well aware of each other, although they have never played in the same team.

They both played in the same college system in Wisconsin and Melzer said that when he was a freshman he looked up to Bailey as a star.

Lemanis said, "Rich told me when he arrived in Auckland last week he really wanted to play with Brant and we should be moving heaven and earth to get him down here to play."

The Breakers' opening ANBL match for the season is against Cairns in Auckland on September 4.

- NZPA