Giants' Dorsey voted Player of the Year

Tony Dorsey will lead Manchester Giants into the championship final against his former club Birmingham Bullets at Wembley on Saturday week, with the accolade of being voted the League's Player of the Year.

Dorsey, a 6ft 7in, 29-year-old forward from Atlanta, in Georgia, will be anxious to add the championship to his team's only other success this season, the northern conference. After losing in the finals of the Uni-ball League Trophy and the National Cup, Nick Nurse's team are burdened with the tag of underachievers despite a record that would leave most other coaches delirious with a sense of accomplishment.

"He deserves it," Nurse said. "Tony has had an outstanding season and has a led us to a lot of wins and a long way in all the competitions. He really produces on a nightly basis and he's a big-time player."

Dorsey now joins the illustrious Alton Byrd as the only players to win the Player of the Year award twice. Dorsey last won in 1996 as a Birmingham Bullets player.

Dorsey's Giants team-mate Roy Hairston is the highest-placed rookie in this season's team, which is selected by the League coaches, while the Bullets' Nigel Lloyd is in at seven. London Towers' Steve Bucknall is the only English player selected.

ALL STAR TEAM: T Dorsey (Manchester Giants), D Lewis (London Towers), T Myers (Sheffield Sharks), S Bucknall (London Towers), R Hairston (Manchester Giants), J Hamilton (Chester Jets), N Lloyd (Birmingham Bullets), N Reinking (Sheffield Sharks), J McCord (Edinburgh Rocks), B Brantley (London Leopards).