Basketball: BULLETS PLAN TO KIRK-START BUYS.
Byline: RICHARD TAYLORPERTEMPS Bullets have yet to hit the target in the transfer market, but already know that next season they will be in the sights of former favourite Reggie Kirk.
Kirk's electrifying skills were a key part of Bullets' Wembley Championship-winning team in 1998, and now he is re-joining former team-mate Nigel Lloyd at Milton Keynes.
Successful
Kirk stayed with Bullets for a second season, but Lions' player-coach Lloyd has snapped up the 6ft 4in shooting guard from his favourite hunting ground of Mexico, where he led Gallos de Pelea to their championship final.
Lloyd has moved swiftly in the transfer market this summer after taking the Lions to their most successful campaign in his rookie season as a coach, Lloyd has already re-signed 6ft 8in fellow-Barbadian Andrew Alleyne and 6ft 9in American Jason Siemon, and of his latest acquisition said: 'I've played with him and know he is an unbelievable talent.
Kirk, from Hammond Indiana, averaged 18.3 points per game in his two seasons with the Bullets and upped that to a 22 point average last season in Mexico.
Lloyd believes 35-year-old Kirk will quickly settle back into BBL basketball, not only through having played with Lloyd and against Siemon, but also because he has played with Alleyne in Mexico.
Bullets coach Lance Randall, who is aiming for a degree of continuity and does not plan wholesale changes to his line-up for next season, set himself a deadline of mid-June to complete his main recruiting drive.
But I'll probably leave one slot open until later in the summer, just in case a good player suddenly appears on the market.
Apart from transfers, Bullets were also left in limbo on the European front this week when the North European Basketball League delayed their expected announcement on which teams would be joining the competition next season. Bullets commercial manager Sharon Shakespeare said: 'We'd expected to hear on Thursday, but nothing came through. We expect to hear this week.'
Derby Storm are looking to appoint a new coach, with last season's play-caller, American Kevin Wall, expected to replace Iain Maclean at Edinburgh Rocks.
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| Publication: | Sunday Mercury (Birmingham, England) |
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| Date: | May 20, 2001 |
| Words: | 354 |
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