You will need to have a flexible diary to follow the champion Otago Nuggets next year.
The National Basketball League draw was released yesterday and it made for interesting reading.
There was a time when if your NBL team was playing at home, you knew it would be Saturday at 7.30pm, but the revitalisation of the league and wall-to-wall television coverage has changed everything.
The league has also brought evening tip-offs forward to a more fan-friendly 7pm.
The Nuggets do not have a single home game in the "normal" prime spot of Saturday night.
They have three home games on Thursday nights, one on Friday, two in Saturday 5pm slots, and three on Sundays, including the season opener against the Jets on April 9.
Three of the Nuggets’ first four games — and six of their first nine — are at home.
Their first final rematch against the Tuatara is on Auckland on May 4, while their trickiest section of the season (on paper, at least) is what rugby folk might call storm week, when they face three road games in five days at the start of June.
"Let’s go back to August, when we played August 7, August 10, August 12 and August 13," he said yesterday.
"Any kind of adversity or challenge can be good, especially in that middle period of the season, when it can mimic the finals series and we can go in with that sort of mindset."
Matehaere said he had not spent too much time analysing the finer points of the draw.
"Our only thoughts are really about game one against the Jets."
Thursday night games could be a tricky sell but he thought 4pm/5pm tip-offs — the Nuggets have four of those at home — were ideal for families.
"It’s a pretty special season with the Nuggets as defending national champions, and we’d love to create a really good atmosphere at home.
"Earlier starts are great for families who can get home in time to put the kids to bed. That’s such a big part of our market — the basketball-mad kids who want to see us play."
The league will again have every game on Sky Sport, and has cut a deal with free-to-air broadcaster Prime to screen a live game every Sunday at 6pm.
There will be 15 regular season rounds, followed by the Final 6 on July 20-23.
It should be a particularly interesting season as it is a World Cup year, and prospective Tall Blacks will be eager to impress national coach Pero Cameron.
Otago Nuggets
The draw
Home games:
v Jets (Sunday, April 9, 4pm), v Sharks (Sunday, April 16, 6pm), v Giants (Thursday, April 27, 7pm), v Saints (Saturday, May 13, 5pm), v Tuatara (Thursday, May 18, 7pm), v Hawks (Friday, May 26, 7pm), v Rams (Thursday, June 15, 7pm), v Bulls (Sunday, July 2, 4pm), v Airs (Saturday, July 15, 5pm).
Away games:
v Airs (Saturday, April 22, 7pm), v Tuatara (Thursday, May 4, 7pm), v Bulls (Saturday, May 6, 7pm), v Sharks (Monday, June 5, 5pm), v Jets (Thursday, June 8, 7pm), v Saints (Friday, June 9, 7pm), v Rams (Thursday, June 22, 7pm), v Hawks (Saturday, June 24, 7pm), v Giants (Friday, July 7, 7pm).
