Fresh look for Manawatū Jets
The Manawatū Jets are well on course for the coming National Basketball League season, with a new board, a new chairman and a new squad.
The Jets returned to the NBL last year after a two-year absence and operated on a shoestring budget. This year they have a larger board and should have slightly more money to play with, but the board still wants to be cautious.
Kevin Smith is the new board chairman, while also new to the board are Clive Pedley, Bernard Walsh, Von Walker and Simon Mori. Smith has replaced Richard Hansen, while Dave Craig and Kent Mori have also left. Former Jet Darryl June remains.
Pedley is a former Jets chairman, Simon Mori is a former Jet and Walker is a Basketball Manawatū board member.
Smith is a Manawatū basketball stalwart. He started on the then Palmerston North Basketball Association, now Basketball Manawatū , committee in 1976 and became president in 1986.
In those days the association and the Jets were one entity, so he was the default general manager.
He finished on the committee in 1991 and went into coaching, taking the Jets development team for about seven years and then was an assistant coach for the Junior Tall Blacks until 2010. He also had a stint as chairman of Auckland Basketball.
Now, he is general manager of Truck Stops in Palmerston North and has been coaching the Massey men’s club team and the Feilding High School premier boys’ side.
Smith said the Jets would still be community-focused and look after local players.
He said most of last year’s sponsors were back, but the Jets were yet to find a naming-rights sponsor. ‘‘Our focus this year is taking that platform we got last year and enhancing the things that let us down,’’
Coach Tim Mctamney is back this season and has named a preseason squad, which has a handful of new players and some of the youngsters who featured last season.
Three New Zealand players and three imports will be added before the season. Last year the squad was being finalised on the eve of the season.
Mctamney is likely to target some big forwards for their import and Kiwi spots.
Returning from last season are Haize Walker, Jake Mckinlay, Rangimarie Mita and Jack Henry, as well as development players Jacob Collis and Phil Borota.
Young guard Walker will be better after a full season with the Jets last year, as will Mckinlay, who was in the New Zealand under-17 team last year. Walker has returned from a stint in the United States.
Ben Valentine has retired. Veteran forward Stephen Hansen, who had retired due to injuries in 2014, is back, as is Tia Temata-frost, a former Junior Tall Blacks captain, who hasn’t played for the Jets since 2013.
The squad has been training since October and Mctamney said they were well in advance of where they were last year and the professionalism was through the roof.
‘‘From my point of view last year was fly by the seat of your pants. We did everything as it came to us, putting a team on the court, picking up some wins along the way. This year will be a much better experience.’’
Mctamney said it would be a similar concept to last year where they were building depth.