Marty signs up to coach Saints

American Doug Marty is set to coach the Wellington Saints in next year's National Basketball League.

Marty will arrive in Wellington next Tuesday to start working with an extended Saints training squad and has provisionally signed on as the NBL club's new head coach.

"He's coming out here on the basis that he will be the Saints coach," chief executive Nick Mills said yesterday.

"He has got a clause in his contract that states that if he gets offered a big job in Europe we will release him up to a certain date, but once he's locked in, he's locked in."

Marty has leap-frogged the Saints' preferred candidate and former coach, Australian Gordy McLeod, who cannot commit to the New Zealand league till two weeks before tip off.

"That's still an option if Doug gets an offer before the New Zealand league starts," Mills said.

"But we just felt we needed somebody to really prepare the team all the way through to the season.

"Gordy will remain a friend of the club regardless."

McLeod coaches the Singapore Slingers in the Australian national league.

Mills said Marty's impressive resume was hard to go past.

It includes degrees from Stanford and Harvard University as well as a coaching career that has spanned the globe, most recently in the Kuwait National League.

Marty was the head coach of the Charleston Lowgaters in the NBA development league from 2002 to 2004. He was also the assistant coach of the USA Ambassadors side that played the Tall Blacks at this year's Boris Stankovic Cup.

The 47-year-old could not be reached for comment yesterday, but he is understood to have become interested in the Saints job after an ownership shake-up in the NBA development league left him without a position next year.

Marty, whose position will be partly funded by the New Zealand Community Trust, will replace fellow American Kevin Brooks.

Brooks' tenure ended one game shy of the regular season after a falling out with Mills and some disappointing results that saw the Saints miss the playoffs.

Mills said the club was determined to give the new coach as much lead-in time as possible.

A 20-strong squad, including five selected development players, will assemble this Saturday to begin preparing for the NBL season, with the Saints' first game pencilled in for February 28 at North Harbour.

Meanwhile, in a major boost for next season, Wellington Phoenix football saviour Terry Serepisos has extended his sponsorship of the Century City Saints for another season.

The Singapore Slingers caused an NBL boilover with a 112-105 overtime victory over the Perth Wildcats in Singapore yesterday.

Slingers guard Mike Helms Bagged a massive 44 points while, for the Wildcats, Paul Rogers top-scored with 23.

There were more than ten lead changes throughout but an uncharacteristically strong defensive and rebounding effort by the home team eventually gave them the edge.

"This was a good win and we really needed it," said Slingers coach Gordie McLeod.