saw this on the west australian....so hope we sign him
Robbie Feaster was a gun
New Cat anxious to make his mark
8th January 2008, 9:45 WST
He looks like he could be the younger brother of Melbourne Tigers ace Dave Thomas.
But the Perth Wildcats coaching staff swear he resembles former star import Rob Feaster in the way he plays the game.
Meet Joe Shipp, the Wildcats' new import, who, subject to the relevant paperwork being completed later this week, will become the fourth overseas player to wear a Perth singlet this NBL season.
Almost as soon as club management got the news on Friday that Shawn Redhage's Australian citizenship application had been approved, they were on the telephone to Shipp in the US enticing him to fill the import vacancy on the Wildcats roster.
Gerald Brown, who replaced sacked point-guard Rashad Phillips in October, is now Perth's "senior" import.
Ironically, Shipp's journey to Perth followed his release from Burgos in Spain's LEB league, the same competition in which Wildcats forward Alex Loughton played last year.
The 26-year-old, 197cm swingman from Los Angeles originally caught the eye of Perth coach Scott Fisher while playing for Albuquerque in the NBA's D-League last year.
"At that time we were strictly looking at point-guards but I made a mental note saying this guy would be good in our league," Fisher said.
"He reminded me very much of Rob Feaster, who was very good for the Wildcats a few years ago. There is a bit of inside-outside to his game.
"Joe will come off the bench, probably all season. He is versatile and that is really what you want at this stage of the season. In our league he could probably play three positions.
"We can easily slot him into a game when we need to."
Despite being jet-lagged after arriving in Perth at 12.30am yesterday, Shipp trained with his new teammates from 10am.
He won't be able to play against the Taipans in Cairns tomorrow night because he has yet to officially sign with Perth.
Under league rules, the Wildcats cannot contract another import until Redhage receives a citizenship certificate, which should be issued within 24 hours.
However, Shipp was likely to travel with Perth to Cairns in a bid to fasttrack his integration into the roster.
Shipp, the 16th import to play for Perth since the start of 2001-02, is keen to make his mark in the NBL.
"I'm definitely excited . . . win some ball games, continue to get better, have a good experience," he said.
"I'm a good shooter, good offensive player and a solid defender. I'll do whatever it takes to help this team, whatever they ask me to.
"Once I get acclimatised I'm going to work as hard as I can to help this ball club win some games."
He reckons his a good shooter....from the video footage i reckon he is one hell of a shooter!!!