Nice article... LOL about the Chinese woman holding a toaster at breakfast in case Brad Hill wanted some toast!

It would be a pretty cool experience for the Taipans getting to play against Pierce and Beasley. Doesn't seem like they tried very hard though, since Hill and Dusty put up some good numbers against them and Cairns won easily.

Nice to see Cairns getting in some valuable preparation to the NBL season almost upon us. Does anyone know what the 36ers are doing in that regard? I realise the 2 new imports only arrived this week, but isn't Clarke still tied up with the Boomers? I am a bit concerned about the lack of time with the NBL season only about 6 weeks away and we don't seem to be doing very much to prepare for it. If anyone has got some positive facts about the preparation to the coming season, please advise. I welcome any good news. I don't mean the preseason games that are scheduled in the next few weeks, but preparation leading to that and the regular season.

They have been training for weeks. Like other clubs, they have pre-season games planned - a couple against Cairns, a couple against the Hawks, one against the Tigers. They've mentioned discussions about a possible series of games in China that may not have come off, and there may be a Blitz pre-season event. Aren't these sorts of things what every club does every year?

Thanks for your response Isaac. I am aware of these pre season activities but I guess my question was aimed more on what stage they are at right now towards preparation for the new season. Cairns have already had some games in Cairns from visiting teams and are now playing overseas, whereas our 2 imports have just arrived. How much time has Clarke put into this preparation whilst being involved with the Boomers?

There are still two coaches (I assume York is still involved) running trainings with the team. It's not like they stop and wait for him to come back. Radford is pretty key to the coaching operation from what I gather.

Not sure of Breakers' status - can't imagine they've bothered to rush imports in when 3-4 players are off with the Tall Blacks. Hawks have only trained with one import so far, and barely (think he got in Monday or Tuesday). Blaze are without Gibson and Wortho plus have some injuries (Wright mentioned 3-4 injuries). Cairns still have to sign a second import unless I've forgotten someone - must be some injuries too given name players aren't showing up as stat leaders in China or those games against touring clubs. In Perth, Redhage is only just making it back to game-readiness, Martin is off with the Boomers and Knight and Tovey have been injured this off-season. I think it might just be Melbourne that have anything like a full squad together at this point.

Crosswhite (Ankle) Loughton (OP) Williams (Knee) did not travel with the team to China.

If there is an import starter to come, would that mean they were travelling without three of their eventual starting five?

Pre-Season games coming up:

28/8/11           4:00PM            Wollongong     Sydney                         The Snakepit
2/9/11             7:00PM            Sydney             Waratah All Stars        Bridgecoast Stadium
2/9/11             7:30PM            Townsville       Cairns                          RSL Stadium Townsville
3/9/11             7:30PM            Adelaide          Wollongong                 Ulverstone Arena
4/9/11             4:00PM            Adelaide          Wollongong                 Devenport BB Stadium
9/9/11             7:00PM            Sydney             Gold Coast                   Tamworth Sports Dome
10/9/11           7:00PM            Sydney             Gold Coast                   Tamworth Sports Dome
10/9/11           7:30PM            Adelaide          Cairns                          Starplex, Adelaide
11/9/11           3:00PM            Adelaide          Cairns                          The Arena, Adelaide
16/9/11           7:30PM            Townsville       Perth                           RSL Stadium, Townsville
17/9/11           7:00PM            New Zealand   Wollongong                 Tauranga Indoor Stadium
29/9/11           7:00PM            Melbourne      Adelaide                      Geelong Arena