hurley
Years ago
Mottram and thomas to europe
Mottram, Thomas eye European contracts
Grantley Bernard
02mar06
THE Melbourne Tigers are set to undergo minimal yet significant roster adjustments as they take aim at back-to-back NBL championships.
While the club wants to keep the team intact, power forward Neil Mottram and import guard Dave Thomas are set to pursue lucrative European contracts for next season.
Co-captains Chris Anstey and Darryl McDonald will return along with Rashad Tucker, and back-ups Stephen Hoare, Daryl Corletto, Tommy Greer, David Stiff and Braith Cox should stay in Tigers red for the 2007 NBL campaign.
Contract negotiations are still to be completed with several Tigers, but coach Al Westover is confident most of the team, which clinched the championship by completing a 3-0 series sweep over the Sydney Kings on Tuesday night, will be back.
"We'll probably enjoy this week and then have meetings with the players and sort out contracts," Westover said yesterday.
"There are things that need to be done. We need some closure for this season and then get ready for next year."
Anstey, who was named grand final MVP and will win the regular season MVP next week, is exploring short-term European deals, but is expected back to help the Tigers defend their title, providing an NBA chance does not eventuate.
That means there is a priority in sorting out the situation of Mottram, who has an English passport and can play in Europe as a non-import, and Thomas, who has the class to play in the big leagues of Italy, Spain or Greece.
"If we're going to lose (Mottram) we need another big and we can't wait until the end of July to start looking around," Westover said. "We might have to look around and see who's available.
"Hopefully Neil can give us an answer fairly quickly. We'd like to have him and it would be great for him and the team if he could stay another year or two, but we'll see what his options are.
"We are going to prepare for the possibility we might not have him and 'DT', who's looking for a European contract. But if those things don't happen, hopefully they'll be back with us next year."
Some of the Tigers' younger players will play in the SEABL and Big V competitions during the NBL off-season, while the veterans will likely rest before a tour to China and an invitation to the Singapore Cup tournament as NBL champions.
