The days, minutes and seconds have ticked by agonisingly slowly for the New Zealand Breakers this week, as they gear up for their NBL season opener against the Cairns Taipans on Sunday.
With several of their key troops fit and firing after a difficult 2016-17 campaign, the Breakers have produced a solid four-and-two record in pre-season.
A two-from-three record in last month's NBL Blitz tournament in Victoria was followed by two pre-season wins and a loss in games on Kiwi soil.
Coach Paul Henare, who has worked overtime in both his Breakers and Tall Blacks roles since the end of the past NBL season, was itching to begin.
Having churned through five imports last year, Henare - now in his second year at the helm - hoped for more luck this time around, with recruits Edgar Sosa and DJ Newbill to work alongside the likes of Tom Abercrombie and Kirk Penney.
A rejuvenated Mika Vukona would also feature prominently.
"You have the whole pre-season to get ready and then our last pre-season game was that hit-out against Brisbane, it just seems like forever ago," Henare said.
"So we're excited.
"We've had as much build-up as we need, the time to build on those combinations and for the system we've brought in so far.
"We've got a group of guys that've been around a long time, been competitive, have high expectations of winning - that's kind of our baseline standard."
Henare's Breakers, just one win short of last year's play-offs, will be forced to confront their demons in Auckland with the arrival of the slick Taipans.
The Aaron Fearne-coached side, who snuck past Illawarra 88-87 on Friday night, swept the Breakers 4-0 last season.
It was just the second time in seven seasons the Breakers have missed the top four.
While Henare hoped to kick off the campaign with a win, he acknowledged his side would need a bit more time to reach their absolute best.
But their fitness levels should hold them in good stead.
"They were our bogey team last season," Henare said.
"For us, it's not all about redemption, but it just adds a little bit more fuel to the fire when we know we're playing against a well-coached, well-drilled side."
