Nick Nurse today called on his Genesis Brighton Bears to feed off the buzz of Rodmania and bring down the best team in the country.

Nurse wants his Bears to delight a likely full house at the Brighton Centre (7pm) by ending Newcastle Eagles' seven-game winning run.

And that means using one of the best defenders the game has ever seen to help beat the most defensively tough British League team at their own game.

Dennis Rodman was guest of honour in the room at the top as he made his first visit to the Centre yesterday afternoon.

The former Chicago Bulls star took centre stage at a press conference in the Skyline suite, overlooking the seafront.

He happily fielded questions about Big Brother, and even a few about basketball, and declared he was in town looking for a win (and some "dirty" girls).

But it was coach Nurse, seated immediately to his left, who identified how the presence of a player who made unglamorous off-the-ball graft fashionable can have a positive effect on midtable Brighton.

Rodman has been hired with the backing of team sponsors Genesis Forwarding Services for an undisclosed five-figure fee, a move which has its share of critics.

Nurse said: "People were grumbling about why we spent money on this and not the youth teams or something like that.

"But my assistant Phil Waghorn, who coached Dennis's first game here, said the young kids here can learn that you don't have to be the biggest scorer in the whole game to be a really good player.

"This guy more than anybody in basketball carved a niche out of being a specialist. He's a defender and the greatest rebounder to ever play the game and I think kids can learn about doing other things other than having to take all the shots."

Rodman's press conference was preceded by a signing session in Churchill Square to promote his latest autobiography, I Should Be Dead By Now, attended by members of the full-time Bears squad.

After an uncertain start, they seem to have taken to the idea of having an NBA legend in their midsts.

Nurse said: "At first they did not know what to think. Jerry Williams said 'What's the deal, coach? Are we still trying to win?' and I said of course we were.

"They were concerned we were just doing this big entertainment thing and we weren't trying to win the game. Confidence "But Dennis came in and played a great game. As the game wore on our guys played with more confidence.

"Towards the end he grabbed three big rebounds and they really enjoyed that."

Bears were hoping Rodman would train with them at the Centre today after the presence of James Blunt getting in some last-minute rehearsals for his concert made the hall unavailable yesterday.

Not that Rodman, who arrived from Los Angeles earlier in the day, was in the mood for drills and shooting practice.

He said: "Brighton use the same offence we used in Chicago, the triangle, so that's very easy.

"Being on a plane for 13 hours and signing books for two hours and doing this press conference.

"Do I want to go out and practise? Not really. Maybe tomorrow (today). If I've got time I'll put some shots up and have a little run around.

"I like the guys on the team and the coach, although he doesn't coach anymore (referring to Nurse's 18-hour-a-day schedule organising Rodman's visit).

"I enjoyed the first time I was here. The people were generous. They weren't over zealous trying to grab you. They just wanted to take a picture and they were very excited."

Rodman has spent the two weeks since his Bears debut, a 91-88 win over Guildford, under-taking trips to New York and Seattle, working and enjoying time with his family.

He said:"I've been with my kids for a few days. I miss my kids a lot. I had to go back and make sure they still know they have a father. That was the main thing for me."

Rodman hopes the break will help him offer Bears more than he managed on his debut but he stressed he was here to be a team player.

He said: "I'm not here to be the superstar.

"It's up to the coach to let me know how many minutes he wants me to play.

"If he wants me to go out at a certain time, I'll do that."

Rodman did not need a lot of persuasion to give his views on Big Brother. He praised Traci Bingham's assets, descibed Faria Alam as the cool girl who slept with the coach and said Maggot was the house-mate most likely to make a basketball player, even though he was a bit too thin.

But would he do a second series of BB? "You could not pay me enough money to go back into that house.

"I'm going to be famous the rest of my life. Going in the house didn't really do anything for me."

Newcastle will be intent on ignoring big reputations tonight.

Just like the girl in the Churchill Square shop who asked Rodman to wait a minute when he tried to buy a new mobile phone.

Asked if he would see out the season in England after tonight's contest and tomorrow's trip to London Towers (7.30pm), Rodman said "That would be ten or 15 games so I would have to stay here for a while. That would mean a lot more money"

All eyes turned to the man with the cash, Doug Currie of Genesis. How much is he paying?

At which point Currie proved Rodman was not the only great defender seated at the top table.

"We can't tell you that," he said decisively for the umpteenth time over the past three weeks.

"But we are most definitely getting value for money."