Basketball: Homik joins Tall Blacks for China

Aucklander Mike Homik will replace Kirk Penney in the Tall Blacks squad for a four-way tournament in China tomorrow.

Homik had nine games for the Tall Blacks in 2003 after his debut against the touring Czech Republic team. He had two seasons for Waikato in the local NBL before attending Albertson College in Idaho, then signing for the Auckland Stars in 2003 and since picking up titles with them in 2004 and 2005.

Penney is trialling with the Milwaukee Bucks at the NBA club's camp in Minneapolis but is assured of taking part in the Oceania series against Australia in mid-August.

The Boomers will not have NBA draft number one pick Andrew Bogut available for the Oceania series due to his commitments with Milwaukee.

The Aussies are also losing four players who will be at the junior world championships in Argentina: Steven Markovic, Brad Newby, Aaron Bruce and Aleksander Maric. But definitely in are Jason Smith and Matt Neilsen after their commitments in Croatia and Greece ended last week.

The Boomers are taking the tournaments with New Zealand super-seriously, with coach Brian Goorjian stating that he will use the players he expects to be in their squad for the next four years through the World Championships in Japan and the Beijing Olympics.

He has great regard for Pero Cameron and Mark Dickel but said, "I like our chances if all our main guys are there".

The Boomers have been in camp in Melbourne and fly to Japan for games against that country's national team before meeting the Tall Blacks, Lithuania and host country China for the Borislav Stankovic Cup in Beijing.

Gina Farmer to retire

Long-serving Tall Ferns forward Gina Farmer has announced her retirement from the international game and said full retirement isn't far away.

"I have signed a contract to play in Haifa, Israel, from September 2005 to April 2006, therefore I will not be available for any Tall Ferns commitments, including the Commonwealth Games, for the upcoming year," said Farmer, 30, a regular since her debut in 1994. She is also about to be married. "After the conclusion of this [contract] I will not want to continue playing overseas or at home as I've played too long as it is."

Farmer's career has been hampered by injuries, but she often played through them. As the Ferns' tallest player, she was often asked to guard international players several centimetres taller.

"Gina has been an incredible player," said Ferns manager Kim Lucas, whose tenure with the team has spanned Farmer's career. "No one can imagine the pain she has endured over the years in the name of this game and this team. There truly hasn't been a greater fighter."

Breakers adjust schedule

The Aussie NBL has agreed to a Breakers' request for adjustments to its programme as it seeks to attract a family audience. There will be more Sunday games in the season that starts in early September, fewer night games, especially on Fridays when traffic has been a factor in late arrivals and/or low crowds.

The cheerleaders named after a brand of condoms but generally known as the "condom girls" will not be back.

The team has arranged a quick trip to Tasmania then Melbourne in early August for games against the Tigers, but they will not have their four Tall Blacks players involved. That is followed by the shortened version of the game at the Cairns Blitz.

So far coach Andrej Lemanis has had just Aussies Ben Pepper and Tim Behrendorf fit for training. Development player Brent Charleton rolled an ankle, and A. J. Majstrovich is still suffering from an elbow injury with which he played through the domestic NBL final.

"It's very frustrating," said Lemanis, who arrived as new coach with a carefully thought-out nine-week pre-season programme that has since been torn up.

"We will have to cope with the unavailability of our Tall Blacks as a constant issue, so we need to adjust. It's not just a matter of the game - it's motivation, keeping them mentally fresh because some of them have been playing through a full year for while. I can see us being under-done at the start of the season," he said.

The Breakers have signed long-term NBL player Clifton "Super" Bush. They are still looking at an American forward who is involved in NBA summer camps - and hoping he doesn't get picked up.

Breakers given no chance

Aussie basketball commentator for Fox TV Steve Carfino gives the Breakers no chance this season. They have based the team around Ben Pepper, Mike Chappell and Aaron Olson, who didn't make it last season, Carfino said in comment on the NBL website, and the locals signed with the team had not been up to standard.

"Unfortunately I just don't think the New Zealand Breakers have the talent to compete for the title," he said. "Really that's been their problem in their two years in the championship. The guys that have done well in the New Zealand league can't seem to translate it into success in the (Australian) Championship. I just don't think that they have shown, with the players that have been picked up this off-season, that they have a strong enough roster to compete for a title.

"I see a major weakness for them being the inability to win away from home. So far, the Breakers have struggled with road games, only winning three in total last season and seven in their two years in the league.

"I think there is a need for a major roster shake-up, as it's tough to see any standout or major players for them that will win a lot of games," Carfino said.

Pearce is Razorback

2003-04 Tall Black Mile Pearce has signed with the West Sydney Razorbacks, where he was a junior development player in 1999 before going to Brisbane and Hunter.