"We have to go back to what feels right and what works for us," Gracie Roberts-Hare said.
The 26-year-old Southern Hoiho guard understands that message on a couple of levels.
She has spent the past four years playing professionally in the Netherlands.
Before that she was in the United States college system.
But after eight years of living abroad it was time to return to her roots.
The chance to play some basketball for the Hoiho fitted in nicely with that plan.
When Roberts-Hare, who hails from Nelson, left the country, the Tauiti Basketball Aotearoa league did not exist.
You basically had to go overseas if you wanted to pursue basketball as a professional option.
"There was not a direct pathway into professional basketball in New Zealand, so it is really cool to see that younger generations now will be able to step right into this," she said.
The sport has gathered plenty of momentum during her absence.
She has also been impressed with the standard of the league.
"It’s nice to see how competitive it is," she said, adding the standard was "a little higher" than in the Netherlands
"To me it feels more natural playing here in New Zealand in this league.
"I think we push the ball a bit more in transition and it feels a bit more free in the open court."
Getting back to what feels natural has been the theme for the Hoiho this week.
They set a high bar early but have suffered a setback with back-to-back losses in their last two games.
"We had a couple of injuries and had a few people in and out over the last few games which has been disruptive to our flow," she said.
"But we are going into the last round, so everybody has been scouting us and everyone has been scouting each other, so you are starting to get different looks.
"So it is just adjusting to the defence they are giving us and getting back to our flow.
"I feel like we have a pretty good rhythm together, so it is just finding that rhythm again.
"We’ve gone away from that in the last couple of games."
The Hoiho will host the Tokomanawa Queens at the Edgar Centre tonight.
They have won both games against the Queens this season.
But the 102-61 loss to the Mainland Pouakai and the 86-64 defeat to the Whai has left a dent.
The Hoiho lean heavily on import Ashten Prechtel to protect the rim and snatch rebounds.
The big centre missed the loss to the Pouakai but returned for the match against the Whai and stood out with 26 points and 20 rebounds.
She will be a key player again.
Tauiti Basketball Aotearoa
Edgar Centre, 7.30pm today
Southern Hoiho v Tokomanawa Queens
