BASKETBALL: Winitana puts pen to paper

HAMISH BIDWELL
The elaborate jigsaw puzzle that is trying to piece together a winning National Basketball League team is gradually taking shape for the Mighty Hawks.
With the Hawke's Bay-based players in the squad having already started practicing in the last few weeks, coach Shawn Dennis is also scouring New Zealand, Australia and the United States in a effort to go one better than this year's heartbreaking grand final loss to the Auckland Stars Waitakere.
Top of Dennis' shopping list is a mobile big man, while a reliable shooting guard is not too far behind.
"It's all pretty slow at the moment unfortunately but we should know where we stand with a few players within the next week or so," said Dennis.
"Paora Winitana agreed to a two-year contract yesterday, Aidan Daly's pretty close to signing and Everard Bartlett and Adrian Majstrovich have already signed. Now we're just waiting on Paul Henare and Tony Rampton.
"We've put in a pretty tough offer to Tony and we hope to have him and Paul signed by the end of the weekend. You've got to have that big man in the middle and with Tony being a Kiwi, that also gives me a bit of flexibility when it comes to shopping for imports.
"The other thing is that we didn't shoot the ball well last year, so we're looking to recruit a shooting-type player who can give us a consistent threat from outside. As far as the imports go, obliviously I'm looking at Australia and you always look at the US, but we've got a bit of time until we need to make those two signings."
For his part, Winitana says finally putting pen to paper has been a relief.
"I'd be lying if I said that I hadn't talked to other teams but, like I said to Jeremy Bayliss and to Shawn, 'I'm not going to fool you so I can get a better deal, I just want you to look after me and my family because you know Hawke's Bay is my heart'," Winitana said.
"Me and my family never wanted to go anywhere else, but I didn't want them to take advantage of me because my heart is here."
With the negotiation out of the way, the Tall Blacks star says he can now turn his attention to helping Dennis assemble a team to win the championship. That's easier said than done, but Winitana is confident that he, Dennis and the rest of the team's leadership group will find the right kind of people.
"The thing about Shawn is that he's all about Hawke's Bay basketball and I take my hat off to him for what he's done in the last couple of seasons," he said.
"He's invested in the talent that's here and worked hard to bring good people in from outside and in the end we finished equal-first on the ladder last season. There will probably be a few changes this year, but the thing about the coach, is that you know he's got the championship on his mind.
"I don't want to sound boastful, but I'm lucky enough to be one of the senior guys on the team, and he always calls me up and asks me about this guy or that guy and I'll say 'what about this other guy?'
"He's quite open-minded and we do get a bit of a say in terms of the roster, but at the end of the day, it's his team and I support him in every decision."