BALLARAT Miners imports Jamal Brown and Drake Reed have suffered injury setbacks in the final countdown to the opening of the South East Australian Basketball League season on Saturday.
Brown is battling back soreness, while Reed sprained an ankle after training mishaps.
Each sat out the second of the Miners' three regular training sessions yesterday morning.
Brown watched on from the sidelines, while Reed spent the two hours shooting baskets.
However, Wes Davidson Real Estate Miners head coach Guy Molloy is confident his star duo will be fit to face Bendigo Braves at Bendigo on Saturday night and Mt Gambier Pioneers at the Minerdome on Sunday.
Brown, who is not long back from a playing stint in Malaysia, said there was no way he would miss the start of the season.
Reed is Ballarat's marquee signing this year and pivotal to the prospects of a restructured roster.
Molloy said having Reed and Brown miss out on last-minute fine tuning was not ideal, but the main focus was having them right for the weekend.
Reed heads an influx of newcomers to a Miners barely recognisable to how they looked last season.
Adam McSwain, Matt Johnston, Nathan Cavanagh and Brown are the only surviving players.
Sam Borner has been promoted from the Ballarat Nuggets, while Reed (United States), Tariq Naqqash (Mt Gambier, SEABL), Daniel Joyce (Gold Coast, NBL), Jared Scoines (West Sydney, NBL) and Ryan Barnes (Sunbury) are
new to the Ballarat program.
Meanwhile, Ballarat Community Health Lady Miners have another week to prepare for their first game.
Their first assignment is against Launceston in Ballarat on Saturday, March 20.
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