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Despite the disappointment of missing out on a spot in the ANBL grand final, the NZ Breakers feel their progress this season puts them in a strong position for success next year - if they have a place in the league that is.
The Breakers season reached the end of the road on Friday night going down 103-97 to the Melbourne Tigers to give the defending champs an unassailable 2-0 lead in the best of three series.
While the wounds from the loss are still raw, once the pain wears off the Breakers can justifiably look back on their season as a huge leap forward.
For the first time in the club's history, the Breakers reached the semifinals of the competition and coach Andrej Lemanis said while he was disappointed his side did not advance further, he believes his side can only grow from the experience.
"The big thing for us is learning what it takes to compete at this level," he said.
"There's no better way of learning that than actually experiencing it, playing the defending champions, and learning from that how you go about playing at that level for the full 48, when that's absolutely required in playoff basketball."
But there is still no guarantee the club will have the opportunity to put into effect the lessons from this season, with their place in the revamped league yet to be confirmed. Applications for licences in the new NBL closed off on Friday, with the Breakers submitting a bid.
The inaugural season of the new-look competition will start in October and is to comprise 8-10 clubs, depending on the strength and suitability of the applications submitted.
Although Lemanis said he is "99 per cent sure" the New Zealand club's bid will be accepted, it is not known how long Basketball Australia will take to vet the applications.
Kirk Penney, CJ Bruton, Dillon Boucher, Oscar Forman and Thomas Abercrombie are all signed up for at least one more season, meaning the rest are off contract.
The club is unable to move on contract negotiations until the points rating for each player was released.
Each player is rated from one to 10 - Penney, Bruton and import Rick Rickert were all 10s - and clubs are allowed to fit 10 players into 68 points.
Lemanis said he is keen to keep the bulk of the team together.
"The debrief process starts now, we'll reassess, make our decisions and keep building. Like every year we've been able to build this thing and keep getting better, and that's because of the foundations we have, the things we've put in place, and the belief we have in recruiting good people and having good people," said Lemanis.
