Tab hopeful Marks will return

Tall Blacks coach Tab Baldwin still holds out hope that New Zealand's first NBA player, Sean Marks, will return to the national fold at some stage.

Marks' wife is about to have their second child. He told Baldwin this week that he wanted to see how the finals and his prospects work out with the San Antonio Spurs, then review his basketball career.

Baldwin said he accepted that Marks would not be available this year, but would maintain contact to see if that changed.

Marks has not played frequently for the Tall Blacks, with his NBA commitments often precluding that, except for the Sydney and Athens Olympics and Indianapolis World Championships. He took the court for short periods in 23 of 106 games played by the Spurs this season and did not feature in the finals run they completed yesterday with an 81-74 seventh-game win over Detroit.

But with the Melbourne Commonwealth Games next March and the World Champs in Japan mid-year, Baldwin could well do with Marks' height and experience.

The only other Kiwi to take the court in the NBA, Kirk Penney, who has been a fill-in at the Milwaukee Bucks, is also unlikely to be available for the Tall Blacks given his desire to make an NBA side through the summer camps that start next month.