Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Breakers can live without Penney: Corletto

Updated at 7:34 am on 6 October 2011

New signing Daryl Corletto says he's confident the New Zealand Breakers will cope without scoring machine Kirk Penney as they seek back-to-back national basketball titles.

The Breakers open their season tomorrow against Gold Coast without Penney, who is playing in Spain this season after several years with the Auckland-based team.

Corletto says Penney's shoes are too big to fill for one guy but he thinks the team have enough good players to remain a formidable unit.

Corletto believes centre Alex Pledger will step up this year and tips Gary Wilkinson might lead the league in scoring.

With Corey Webster suspended after testing positive to a synthetic cannabis substance, Corletto was signed after he was left off the Melbourne Tigers roster to accommodate NBA star Patty Mills while the player lockout continued in the US.

Webster says he's enjoying the professionalism in the Breakers club, something he wasn't used to back in Melbourne.

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