Nick Nurse has warned his title winners no one's place is safe in the new look Brighton Bears line-up.

Bears missed the chance of completing a silverware double by losing 80-79 to Chester Jets in the BBL play-off semi-finals last Saturday.

That left the team to make an early return home by bus while Nurse stayed to watch the final as a television summariser as Sheffield Sharks clinched their second prize of the season.

Now the Bears chief, whose team beat Sheffield four times on the way to clinching top spot in the league, is assessing his options for next season.

He revealed he expects the league as a whole to be stronger with possibly two new teams joining.

Nurse, owner and head coach of the Bears, said: "I'm going to re-evaluate things. I'm in no hurry.

"I've got a pretty good idea of what this team is capable of and I don't think there is any need for a major overhaul after losing a one-point game to a pretty good team like Chester, but obviously I want to tweak things and make us better, like I do every year.

"I'm looking at everything and I need to look at how the player eligibility rules work out.

"We already know there will be one less non-permit player and I wouldn't be surprised if it goes more down the European route."

Kendrick Warren signed for Bears on a two-year agreement last summer and is still expected to be top of Nurse's retained list.

The Bears chief, however, would not confirm his top scorer would be back. He said: "We have an option on him for the second year but I am looking at everything. There is a possibility of anyone staying or going."

Departures look certain to include MVP Rico Alderson, who is being linked with a move to London Towers, the team he stayed behind to watch on Saturday as his colleagues were heading home.

Alderson last night insisted he had played his last game for Bears but denied any contact with the South London club.

He said: "I don't know where I'm going. I just want to spend some time to get my thoughts straight."

Nurse is likely to include new EU nations, especially Lithuania, in his search for talent.

He said: "I'm open-minded when it comes to signing players. I will take a peak at eastern Europe and I will look to start with getting a base of talented English guys. There are definitely some coming out of college."

Nurse described the experience of watching Sheffield and Chester battle it out in the final as "disheartening" and added: "We are better than both those teams. We had our chance to prove it but we didn't finish the job.

"I thought we came out to play in the semi-final. We had a dry spell offensively but then got hot and had a commanding lead.

"We let it slip away and it's very uncharacteristic for us to do that.

"I can't remember us doing that all year. Maybe at home to Split was the only other time. Plenty of things have to happen to give away a lead like that but we have to take the blame."

Nurse expects new teams to join the BBL with strugglers Leicester and Birmingham remaining and said: "You're looking at a 12-team league, maybe more. It will be exciting."

Assistant coach is Pat Connelly leaving the club.