10 Aug 2017

Breakers sign second import

11:01 am on 10 August 2017

The New Zealand Breakers have signed a second import for the upcoming ANBL basketball season.

DJ Newbill at Belgium club Ostende

DJ Newbill at Belgium club Ostende Photo: Supplied

American guard DJ Newbill is the tenth player on the side's roster.

Newbill is a graduate of Strawberry Mansion in Philadelphia, and played for Southern Miss and then Penn State University.

Newbill has had tryouts with the Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Clippers/Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers.

Last month the Breakers signed Dominican Republic international Edgar Sosa.

Sosa "all-purpose" player and has three consecutive league championships to his name in Italy, Iran and most recently in Lebanon.

Recently Newbill has been playing with Ostende in the Belgian League.

He played the majority of the just completed season as the club went on to win the 2016-17 EuroMillions Basketball League title.

It was the club's sixth consecutive title and qualified them for the 2017-18 Basketball Champions League.

Newbill is a player that will bring versatility to the Breakers back court, with an ability to score or distribute on offence but also brings an edge on defence.

"I will go out and play hard every night, play tough, score the ball, defend the ball and get the ball to others on the team, I will look to do everything.

I am a genuine combo guard, ....I love to play defence. I think the key is understanding what the offensive player is going to do, sliding your feet and trusting your instincts."

Breakers coach Paul Henare says Newbill "can shoot the ball, play multiple positions and he can defend in a variety of roles as well, he will be a great role player for us, he is what you might term as a 'glue' guy."

With one more player to add to the roster Henare is pleased with the balance of his squad.

"The final player might be the toughest to add, with a number of the current Tall Blacks roster in the mix - and the way they are responding on tour is making it a very difficult choice indeed."

Squad so far:

Alex Pledger, centre; Rob Loe, centre; James Hunter, forward; Mika Vukona, forward; Finn Delany, forward; Tom Abercrombie, swingman; Kirk Penney, guard; Shea Ili, guard; Edgar Sosa (Dominican Republic), guard; DJ Newbill (USA), guard.