Basketball: Penney a real Madrid man

Kirk Penney. Photo / Getty Images

The New Zealand Breakers are losing their best player - but the organisation is accentuating the positive.

Kirk Penney's announcement yesterday that he is off to play in Spain will have fans fretting, as he was so often the go-to guy during their historic championship-winning season, as well as being an integral part of the club over the last four seasons.

Penney is joining top Spanish club Baloncesto Fuenlabrada on a one-year deal, while his wife Audra is said to be seeking opportunities to play professional volleyball in the European country.

CEOs are usually experts at finding a silver lining, but Breakers boss Richard Clarke seems genuinely positive about the options for the team thrown up by Penney's departure.

"Obviously it's a major blow but it also opens up a lot of opportunities," says Clarke. "It changes the mix in our team and we can now put more money into imports. Plus it will give more opportunities for guys like Tom Abercombie and Corey Webster to take more responsibility, and C J Bruton is still a handy player. You can't replace someone like Kirk - but we will have to do things a bit differently from now on."

Clarke's philosophical approach is understandable when he admits the club were never going to stand in Penney's way. The player was voted the league's MVP in 2008-09 and averaged 20 points a game last season and, when he told the club last week that some serious offers had come through, Clarke began to prepare for life "with and without Penney".

"With someone like Kirk we always know he is in demand," says Clarke. "He is well respected in the sport and it is an opportunity for him to challenge himself and play in Europe - a chance that may not come again. This was not really a money decision. Kirk is unique, though; he is leaving the playing roster but not the club and we expect to see him back in a Breakers shirt before the end of his career."

Penney, who has exercised an out clause in his contract, will suit up for Fuenlabrada, based just outside Madrid. The 30-year-old has previous experience of the Spanish league, having turned out for Gran Canaria in the 2003-04 season. Fuenlabrada sporting director Lopez Ferran revealed they had been chasing Penney since last year's world championships, and were delighted to have snared their man.

"Penney is very valuable to us, a man who is at full maturity as a player," Ferran said on the club's website. "He is a great scorer [who] is used to playing in top-level competition."

Fuenlabrada finished seventh in the 18-team Spanish Liga ACB, their best position since being promoted at the end of the 2005-06 season. The Liga ACB is often regarded as the strongest in Europe.

Another attraction to the deal was the opportunity for Audra to play volleyball professionally. She played at the University of Wisconsin and has appeared in some beach events here, and has apparently inked a deal with a Spanish club.

Meanwhile Clarke says the Breakers are in talks with some high-profile Americans of "very good pedigree".

"People will recognise the names and they are players that will excite," says Clarke. "Things are progressing and we will try to get it over the line."

Penney is currently in camp with the Tall Blacks and this week will lead New Zealand to tournaments in China, Macedonia and Turkey before the crucial three-game Oceania Olympics qualifying series against Australia in early September.