Rickert much improved

Breakers centre Rick Rickert could be fit enough to contribute to the side in its key game on Thursday against the Blaze at the North Shore Events Centre.

The American centre warmed up last week against the Hawks, and took his place on the bench but coach Andrej Lemanis erred on the side of caution in not playing him.

The extra week of recovery had not done Rickert any harm.

"He has taken part in most of practice today (Monday) and looks to be making good progress. While he is not yet 100 percent we will monitor him carefully this week with a view to getting some court time on Thursday night," Lemanis said.

Rickert said: "I feel much better. The improvement in the past few days has been great, I feel real confident about Thursday night but I still have some progress to make before I can be totally satisfied."

Thomas Abercrombie's ankle injury is now almost 100-percent recovered and his general fitness has also improved.