McLeod Signs On With Saints
Tagged in: In The News, NBL
Toby Robson, Dominion Post
Australian assistant coach Gordon McLeod has signed up for second stint with the Wellington Saints in a major boost to the National Basketball League club’s prospects.
McLeod yesterday confirmed he would coach the Saints in 2009 on a one-year deal, replacing American Doug Marty, whose return was effectively scuppered by the falling Kiwi dollar.
McLeod coached the Saints to the NBL semifinals in 2006 after signing a three-year contract, but was released early to take the reins of the new Singapore Slingers franchise in the Australian NBL.
With the collapse of the Slingers, he became available and clearly feels he has unfinished business after his early exit two years ago.
“One of the things for me is I felt like I let the club down a bit with going to Singapore,” McLeod said yesterday.
“They were extremely supportive at the time and they understood the situation, and now I have the chance to repay them.”
McLeod said he would look at appointing an assistant coach in the new year, but was already working on his playing roster.
“We’ve been chatting about those things so we are down the track with a number of players. We have not got them on board yet, but we are pretty close with a few.
“We have a vision and it’s about whether we can make that a reality.”
McLeod said there were “budget constraints”, but he was keen to retain the core of the Saints team that reached the finals last season.
The club were looking at Australian imports rather then Americans.
Last year’s star import Ernest Scott is currently playing in America’s NBA Development League, while Kevin Owens is not being chased for a return.
Despite the struggles of many professional basketball teams on both sides of the Tasman, McLeod believed the NBL was in good health.
“It’s a good league. There’s a lot of bad things going on in basketball right now, especially in Australia, but basketball’s not in trouble, it’s still strong.
“It’s the owners of the teams who are in trouble.”
