Nick Nurse has assured basketball fans that the BBL is not crumbling.

The sudden demise of Manchester Giants, the team Nurse coached to the championship just 18 months ago, has sparked concerns as to the general financial health of this country's flagship competition.

Nurse, who met with fellow club directors this week to discuss the fallen Giants' fate, was as saddened as anyone by their demise.

But he insisted: "This is more a one-off case of bad management than an indication as to the health of the league.

"The league is at a strong point and we are a good example of that.

"People know how I feel about basketball in Brighton. The engines are revving here and we are getting ready for take-off.

"The Manchester news is really sad. I probably coached in the biggest game England has ever seen when we played Sheffield in front of 12,000 in the league decider.

"The atmosphere and electricity were unbelievable. It's hard to believe it all went the other way so quickly."

Current Bears stars Errol Seaman and Mike Brown were both formerly with Giants, a club who were perennial play-off qualifiers until last season.

There were signs then that the club were in decline on the court. They failed to make the post season and came within a basket of being dumped out of the cup by struggling Bears, who then beat them home and away in the league.

But few people then would have predicted the club would disappear from the scene altogether.

It is not the first time fans in Manchester have suffered such upheaval.

Manchester United were National League winners back in 1986, in the days before the BBL breakaway, only for the football giants to decide basketball was too much of a strain even on their financial resources.

Fans of the sport had hoped those precarious days were long since behind them Giants' collapse comes at a time when basketball followers had been enjoying a few nuggets of encouraging news about the game in this country.

First there was a win double for the national team, then another great result for Birmingham in their midweek NEBL tussle with Stockholm.

Bullets have the best record in the competition, with clubs like Bears and Sheffield keen to join them in international competition to further raise the game's profile.

Then of course there is the priceless commodity of terrestrial television coverage for BBL matches, a field in which Bears are leading but others may follow depending on the success of next Sunday's showcase with Thames Valley.

Bears top scorer Sterling Davis is certainly impressed by what he has seen after arriving on these shores from spells in Argentina and Uruguay.

He said: "This season has been a bit of a culture shock but I'm enjoying it. The venues here are nicer and the league is very professional, especially here in Brighton, where we get pretty good support from the fans.

"It's probably more competitive than where I have played in the past. The quality of the Americans is a factor in that."

Davis's impressive introduction to the English game was rewarded last night when he won the BBL player-of-the-month prize for November, pipping Calvin Davis of Chester in an internet poll.

He will receive the award before the big Thames Valley clash.

Brian Owen brian.owen@theargus.co.uk