Harvey Norman NZ Breakers vs South Dragons

The South Dragons from Melbourne make their Philips Championship debut when they clash with the Breakers at the North Shore Events Centre next Tuesday night.

Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis says the Dragons will pose a significant threat and he was impressed with what he saw of them during the recent Blitz tournament in Coffs Harbour.

“They’ve recruited very well for a new franchise and they have a talented team headed by two former NBA players in Shane Heal and Todd Fuller. They also have Kavossy Franklin, a good import that’s played in the league before, and in Joe Ingles they have perhaps the hottest young talent in Australia.

“They can definitely score points, so the challenge for us is to restrict them to a score we can beat.”

All eyes will be on South Dragons star Shane Heal who makes a comeback after three years in retirement. Four times Olympian Heal is an NBL legend having played 363 games in 13 seasons, winning a Championship medal with Sydney Kings in his last season, 2002-3. He has averaged more than 21 points a game in his Australian NBL career.