KEY POINTS:
A former NBL championship-winning coach believes the Breakers will be making a big mistake if they pursue just one import.
Steve McKean, who coached the Tall Blacks to their first win against Australia in 1978, said the Breakers needed two good imports to be competitive in the Australian NBL, which starts in September.
Breakers commercial manager Richard Clarke, though, has indicated that if their chase for New Zealand talent such as Craig Bradshaw, Kirk Penney and Phill Jones is successful, they will look to sign only one import, probably an American.
"The Breakers, more than anybody, need two exceptionally good imports to be competitive," McKean said.
"I thought Carlos Powell was pretty good but maybe he was a bit hard to handle."
While most teams will wait to see the results of the NBA draft before making firm decisions regarding imports, the Breakers were tracking the progress of Pistons guard Jason Crowe, a quality player with NBA training camp experience at the Los Angeles Clippers.
However, a basketball source told the Herald on Sunday that Crowe had turned down a $60,000 offer from the Breakers and was poised to sign with the Gold Coast franchise instead.
Clarke said he was waiting to hear from Crowe's agent regarding the Gold Coast offer before deciding what to do next. He also said that they were still in talks with Jones, though a signing there is understood to be imminent.
Penney arrives back in the country next week and the Breakers will have to wait for the NBA draft before making a formal offer to Bradshaw.
There are still concerns on the big-man front, despite the signing of experienced forward Tony Ronaldson from the Perth Wildcats.
"I think he [Lemanis] rates Tim Behrendorff higher than others do," McKean said of the 25-year-old centre.
The Australian is recognised for his sound fundamentals but has yet to establish himself as a presence in the ANBL.
The Breakers have had a mixed off season. Countering Ronaldson's signing is the loss of seven-footer Ben Pepper, who was let go and snapped up by the Townsville Crocs.
Powell was always going to leave and his 20-plus points per game will be tough to replace.
They have also lost shooting guard Aaron Olson, who reportedly fell out of love with the game, and assistant coach John Dorge.
The relationship between Dorge and Lemanis just didn't work so it will be interesting to see how another strong personality, former Saints coach Dean Vickerman, works with a coach heading into his third term with the struggling club.
Vickerman was putting a positive bent on the fortunes of the club, saying the calibre of the Breakers' roster was exciting.
"Securing Tony Ronaldson was a major coup because he's the most experienced player in the league, a two-time championship winner and a gamebreaker on any given night."
He could surely do with one or two more gamebreakers around him, though.
