It's been a season to forget for the New Zealand Breakers.
Despite heading across the Tasman with renewed expectations for the 2021-22 campaign, the team fell well short of where they'd have liked to have been - the playoffs.
"We've all had a little bit of time to reflect," Rob Loe said. "It was a tough season, tough mentally, tough physically and tough on the results."
The side recorded just five wins across their 23 regular season games - the worst result in the club's history.
The season was particularly challenging for the Breakers' 2.11m centre Loe, who found himself on the back foot from the beginning after undergoing surgery during the off-season.
Loe averaged just 4.2 points and 2.5 rebounds in 12 minutes per game throughout the season, statistics he's determined to bounce back from.
"As a professional athlete you learn from those experiences and grow moving forward," he added.
And he'll get the chance to do that this weekend when he suits up for the Auckland Tuatara in their inaugural NBL match against the Taranaki Mountain Airs on Saturday.
While players returning from the Australian NBL tend to take time off after the season, Loe is determined to hit the ground running.
"When you have a bad game, you always want another game the next day to try and right those wrongs, so it's the same with this season.
"It was a tough season so hopefully we can get some good results here with the Tuatara."
And Loe believes they can, with the right mix of youth and experience.
"It's really positive, really fun and it's good to be around some youth who I'm learning from."
The season ahead could be just what Loe needs to bounce back from the disappointment of the Breakers' campaign.
