FIVE weeks to go to the start of the Queensland Basketball League season and Republik Rockets coach Neal Tweedy is beginning to crank up the activity as he finalises his roster.

The defending champion has wasted little time in finding a replacement for big man Michael Kingma who will be suiting up for Mackay this year.

Yesterday the Rockets issued a press release announcing that the vastly experienced Pero Vasiljevic will be playing for the Rockhampton team.

He will certainly offer something to the QBL as he has played as a professional throughout the majority of his basketball career with NBL and also European sides.

“He brings plenty of size to replace Kingma,” Tweedy said.

However, Tweedy is confident Vasiljevic offers a little bit more as even though he stands at 196cm (6ft9in) he is also very athletic.

Rockets operations manager Jamie Boon believes the club has done well to secure the services of the talented 33 year old.

“We are confident we have found the right guy,” he said. “While it appears almost certain that we will not retain the services of Ryan McDade and Reggie Golson, the addition of Pero is significant given his versatility as an inside and outside player.”

Vasiljevic's most recent gig has been with the NBL team Gold Coast Blaze where he accrued little court time.

It is expected Vasiljevic will arrive in Rockhampton before the pre-season blitz which is likely to be on April 16.

For Tweedy securing Vasiljevic is just the second piece of the puzzle with Peni Nasalo already re-signed for 2011.

However, the wily coach hinted there are likely to be a number of further announcements over the next few weeks and possibly as early as Friday.

Tweedy believes the Rockets are at a similar stage of their planning as most of the other teams in the competition, and this year's QBL will be even tougher than it has in the past.

“It will be tough as there are a lot of fringe NBL players floating back into the QBL,” he said.

“We have set the benchmark over the last few years but the league is getting stronger and stronger.

“I think it is a healthy league and with that you have a healthy sport but it is up to us (Rockets) to build every year.”

The Rockets' first QBL match is scheduled for Hegvold Stadium on May 7 when the visitors are Bundaberg.