It's up there with the Bermuda Triangle and spontaneous human combustion.
What leaves a team in such a hopeless state of paralysis?
A time comes when the blokes in the thick of things should be held accountable.
Journalistically speaking, it's pointless "talking heads" with coach Paul Henare.
So Galen Young, why were the HBS Bank Hawks abysmal in the first half?
"It was definitely the worst start of the season when we knew what we had on the line tonight," the veteran American import forward said on Saturday after their 80-84 overtime loss to the Wellington Saints in Napier.
Coming into the home straight of the NBL, progress was vital but the step back on Saturday night just made the task of top two on the ladder tougher.
"It shouldn't take us to be down so big before we show some heart," Young lamented, adding the Hawks' composition had enough depth and experience to deliver the goods.
It hurt going into overtime with the momentum but coming out at the end of the tunnel without a win.
"When you play hard the ball bounces your way a lot and tonight it bounced their way a lot," a Young revealed, struggling to explain why they didn't fire.
"I know how I felt coming in but you never know how everyone else is feeling.
"You can get on guys and try to stroke their egos but there's something internal that you have to muster and come to grips for yourself," he said, adding it was a team sport, not one-on-one like boxing.
"I can't put my finger on it but we can't dwell on it because we have another tough game coming up this week against Nelson Giants, so our backs are against the wall."
A top-two finish on the NBL ladder was the pre-season goal and hadn't changed.
Young hoped other top teams would lose but accepted that wasn't the ideal scenario once their destiny was in others hands.
"I don't like to put my stock in other people. I like to put it in myself and my teammates so we just have to do our job and hope for the best," said the Hawk, who has the distinction of never failing to make any play-offs in his professional career.
Young lauded the boisterous support of the crowd and urged them to pile it on for the rest of the season.
Wellington Saints coach Pero Cameron sweated profusely soon after his high-flying troops started celebrating on the floor on Saturday night, rinsing out the bitter taste of their 100-99 defeat in Wellington on June 3.
"All I can remember is when I came to this gym [PG Arena] it was freezing and now I just can't stop sweating," Cameron said with a grin, after he had whipped of his suit jacket in overtime to pace frantically, starring down at the polished floor.
"I've been hugging my mother-in-law, my whanau and friends, and I'm just soaking."
He labelled Tait, who had a game-high 25 points plus six assists, a class act.
"Any team that Paulie is a part of, he'll make them fight to the end," Cameron said, adding a post mortem would reveal the Saints had a lot of issues to address.
"Any time you get a double header on the road it's great," he said after they beat the Manawatu Jets 90-67 in Palmerston North on Friday night.
Come next month, Cameron expected to lock horns again with the Hawks in Wellington as the Saints aim to finish in the top two.
"I think this is one of the toughest places to play in the country."
Task tougher after big loss
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