Alex StojkovicWestern Bay Suns owner Alex Stojkovic has put off a shot at the big time, turning down a Basketball New Zealand request to apply for inclusion in the national league next season.
Stojkovic said the timeframe to get funding in place and contract players good enough for a competitive NBL team was too tight for next year.
The Suns, who finished sixth at the Conference Basketball League (second division) nationals in Wellington at the weekend, will play in the second tier again next year before launching a possible bid for the NBL in 2010.
"We got a letter from Basketball NZ asking us to make asubmission _ they seem very keen to cash in on Tauranga's growth and the new indoor stadium that's going to be built here," Stojkovic said from Wellington yesterday.
"It's (inclusion in the NBL) always been my goal and, while I'd love it to happen, we need to be realistic that to get enough funding and a player roster together by next March is just not possible.
"I don't want to enter the league with an average team _ I'd rather have everything in place and then make a play for it."
Basketball NZ are believed to be interested in a franchise out of Southland as well as they contemplate expanding the 10-team NBL to 12 or dropping two existing teams out of the competition.
Stojkovic, who bought the Suns late last year, has spent $150,000 on the team this season but predicted he'd need at least twice that as a bare minimum to play in the NBL.
He is currently seeking funding for a general manager for the Suns, which would allow him to concentrate fully on coaching next season.
"I coaching, trying to find sponsors and doing all the admin _ I'm spreading myself too thin and I'm not concentrating enough on my coaching."
Stojkovic believed an NBL franchise in Tauranga was achievable _ just not at current levels.
"I've run things this year on a shoestring, and while we've had good support and a couple of $10,000 sponsors, it'd need a major backer prepared to put in $50,000-$70,000 for naming rights for it to be viable in Tauranga.
"Basketball NZ have told us we're doing a lot of things right here, but it'd need a big lift right across the board to make that step up."
The Suns forfeited their last game of the CBL nationals onSaturday night to Auckland to finish sixth, having earlier dispatched Turanga Health Rising Suns 73-64 and Auckland 94-52,following on from first-up losses to North Otago Penguins and eventual winners Wellington.
Stojkovic saw little point in playing Auckland for the fifth time this season _ and paying $1000 for another night's stay in the capital _ to fight out a meaningless game.
He said their tournament was effectively over when Canadian import Mike King tore his calftwo minutes into the first game against the Penguins.
Wellington denied Waikato a remarkable record when they won the CBL final 90-84, depriving Waikato a fourth successive league title.
Shot at big time too early for Suns
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