Slam dunk: The Breakers go camping to prepare for Australian league opener

By PETER JESSUP

The Breakers go into camp at the Millennium Institute on Auckland's North Shore from this Monday in preparation for their first game against the Adelaide 36ers on October 1.

Australians Ben Melmeth (arm) and Blake Truslove (leg) have been competing in their off-season winter league for hometown teams in West Adelaide and Hunter after overcoming their injuries.

The franchise has confirmed its attendance at a pre-season tournament at Coffs Harbour on the New South Wales central coast. They play Hunter on August 23 and the West Sydney Razorbacks the next day, with games being scheduled against the champion Sydney Kings and Wollongong Hawks plus a rematch with West Sydney.

The Breakers will have 16 players in camp next week, partly to cover for the loss of their Tall Blacks Paul Henare, Aaron Olson, Pero Cameron, Phill Jones and Dillon Boucher who will be away with the national team in Turkey.

Auckland guard Lindsay Tait remains on their hit-list. Tait is the only New Zealand-raised player in the NBL top-10 rankings, at tenth.

The Tall Blacks who are not in the NBL final go into camp on August 13 in the city where the top-ranked team hosts the August 16 decider. The squad flies out the next day for their first game at the Istanbul World Cup tournament in Turkey against Yugoslavia on August 21, with Italy the next day followed by semis, a 3/4 playoff and the final. They fly straight from there to Australia for the three-test Olympic qualifying series.

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Breakers and Titans coach Jeff Green has been called before the NBL's judicial committee, which has the power to fine him and extend the mandatory one-week ban he faces after being ejected from the Titans-Jets game last weekend.

BBNZ rules stipulate a third ejection means a week off and it was Green's third this season. It was still not clear yesterday whether the ban would apply to his coaching of the Waikato women who play Wellington this weekend.

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Basketball New Zealand is expected to release the 12-strong Tall Ferns squad for the Olympic qualifying series against Australia today once availability and injury issues are settled.

Hot tip as new cap is point guard Adrianne Gilbert, 17, born in Wairoa but raised in Melbourne and Sydney. Netball international Donna Loffhagen should also be in, along with the Farmer sisters and WNBA player Megan Compain plus 2001 captain Rebecca Cotton. There are a host of New Zealanders playing in the Australian national league and coach Carrie Graf will have a strong team at her disposal.

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Kirk Penney played well at the Pepsi Summer League in Orlando and has reason to think the Minnesota Timberwolves will keep him on.

He averaged 11.7 points and 18.6 minutes. Minnesota and Miami tied for best record at the tournament with three wins and two losses.

Penney was the Timberwolves' third-best scorer behind Yugoslav guard Igor Racocevic (13.4) and John Wallace (12.4). His future may depend on who else they buy as trading in the player market heats up following today's free-agent day.