Prince is from Minnesota and can play ball

Fascinating Isaac. Rick Rickert is also from Minnesota but I am not aware of anyone looking to sign him. Gold Coast could possibly sign Rickert and Melzer, but I cant see Joey Wright going that top heavy.

Melzer is a high quality player. Having said that, if Werner is signed and they are looking to sign Melzer, what are they doing for a point guard. Black? Or are they going with a Cook/Williams combo?

Crosswhite, Melzer, Boodnikoff, Jones, Black
Werner, Rychart, Grabau, Dann, Williams

That's a good team, but I don’t know if it’s in the Taipans’ budget. Intriguing.

Does Black have many options in Europe at this stage of his career and the recent injury problem(s)?

The other thing is, where would Melzer and Werner play when they already have Rychart and Crosswhite booked?

Maybe Melzer at SF and Werner backing up the frontcourt? Or Melzer in place of Werner? Vale wouldn't be young enough to be a DP, would he?

Crosswhite, Rychart, Melzer, Jones, Williams
Werner, Boodnikoff, Grabau, Vale, Dann, Cook

Can't see Crosswhite coming off the bench behind Melzer at C.

I think theyd bring Rychart off the bench.

In which case, you couldn't really justify signing Werner too. I also wonder about Vale and Dann. Just strikes me as too much depth without any top-tier talent in the guard ranks. Surely they'd be better off with:

Import/Williams
Jones/Cook
Grabau/Boodnikoff
Melzer/Rychart
Crosswhite/Smith

Black has an irish passport.

EC wouldn't approve of Dusty coming off the bench.

Melzer wasn't anything too spesh when he was playing here in NZ, can def play tho

Horvath is a Minnesotian

Good pick-up, but still means you're looking for a team that can afford both and needs help in the paint. I guess Cairns could run Horvath behind Crosswhite. IMO, there will be a good handful of Minnesotans in the NBL by the commencement of the season!

If Rickert ever made it back to this league, that would be a sad day for Australian basketball!

Id like to see melzer back in the league, he was a real competitior on a pretty horrible team at the time. Remember him throwing down some big dunks.

Dusty is not an import.

Yeah I liked Melzer when he was with NZ. He seems a natural SF, pretty athletic with good skills, not sure about his outside shot though. So that'd be interesting if Cairns played him there with Dusty and Crosswhite.

Dann is not playing with the Taipans??

mills/williams
jones/grabau
rillie/boodnikoff
melzer/rychart
crosswhite/smith

Rickert's Euroleague numbers are comparable with Andersen and Nielsen's. He is a quality player and was very good in his first year.

Not the same after his back injury, but still serviceable enough to collect 14 and 9 or whatever he had.

Melzer is a great selection. Never quite made NBA because he is a tweener, but is a good fit for the NBL 4-spot, and can even play some 3.

Agree with paul on Ruckert, he was excellent in the 25 or so minutes he was getting last year. Douchebag, yes, but a gun nontheless.

Unfortunately Breakers signed Rickert. He is not going to cary a team to a championship, so its probably a wasted import spot used up and the Breakers won't have enough money to sign a legitimate low post option. Ronaldson desperately needs help inside. Rickert is not the answer. Sure he will get his 14 and 9 but forget winning a championship. With Penney, CJ and Oscar this team will pretty much live and die with the three and ther are too many good teams around to let that happen!!

Bill, you make some valid points, but remember that Rickert was their second import signing - the "budget" one where they were going to see who they could get with the money that was leftover. In that case, I don't think it's a bad choice - he's a flawed player, but he'd be value for money, knows the team, etc.

The two names I've heard potentially linked with them are strong rebounders. Other than that, the NBL is not a league where a big centre is crucial and Ronaldson as a defender inside can go some way to handling threats in the paint since he is almost immovable inside.

They do lean heavily on the three, but it's also worth remembering that CJ and Kirk are easily the top duo in the competition as guard rotations go - that gives them a headstart. They probably have the strongest development duo and a very solid bench which allows them to go with specialists like Boucher and Forman in other spots.

They were a decent side last year who might've gone further had they faced the Dragons before the Tigers, or had Oscar not gone cold at the wrong end of the season. I think they've only strengthened their roster too.

Spot on in that last point Isaac. If Bruton hadn't got injured they were on track to get a top 2, if not top spot. They had beaten Dragons and Tigers.

But I disagree with you on Rickert. He is a good player. His first year he was an excellent player, last year it seemed his back had reduced him to complementary player. He may be further recovered after another offseason.

He seems to only be about 6’10, which is undersized for an NBL centre, but he makes up for that with how hard he competes. With the 7’1 Pledger showing plenty on the Tall Blacks tour, and Ronaldson strong enough to play some minutes there, I think the Breakers have the centre position covered pretty nicely.

The big adjustment for them is losing Phill Jones and replacing him with two average shooters. They will have to adjust offensively, but the increased penetration from Abercrombie and the new import will create more shots for the shooters that remain.