A modest Mody Maor has credited a change in culture as the catalyst for the NZ Breakers' remarkable turnaround in the Australian NBL.
The Breakers finished bottom of the ladder last season with 10 straight losses and just five total wins, four fewer than their nearest rival.
But fast-forward a year and the NZ-based club are the No.2 seed, with home advantage in the semi-finals against the Tasmania JackJumpers.
Maor refused to take all the plaudits for the monumental shift in fortune and heaped praise on their new recruits.
"Culture doesn't come from one person, that's kind of the idea of culture, it's not me that does something and everybody emulates that," he said.
"If I think that, then next year we're going to be bottom of the table because I'm going to bring in a few jerks in and think they're going to behave the way I want them to behave and it's not going to work.
"It works because we were lucky enough to bring in really good people into the building, each and every one of them.
"Leading by example on these matters carries the most weight, setting clear goals, clear standards of doing things, but again, put the wrong people in, it doesn't work."
American forwards Dererk Pardon and Jarrell Brantley have been ever-present forces in the Breakers' charge toward the playoffs, with compatriot Barry Brown Jr recently named ANBL Sixth Man of the Year.
While the playoffs may be uncharted territory for Maor and many of his players, the Breakers won't be altering their approach.
"Nothing changes for us, we believe in the things that we've done and we believe in how good we are when we play our way," he said.
"I see no reason that needs to change coming into a semi-final, a final, we just need to be the best version of ourselves and for this, we have routines in place.
"Really identical to all the messages I've been giving from day one…[it's not] keep everything normal because nothing is normal, it's keep everything normal because normal works."
As the second seed, the Breakers will have the advantage of playing two of their best-of-three playoff series games against the JackJumpers at Auckland's Spark Arena.
Mody played down the importance of playing at home in terms of the result but believes the fans' involvement is crucial to their overall cause.
"Home advantage is important for different reasons. I don't think playing at Spark gives us more points or anything but what it does, is it creates a connection between this playing group, me, and the community," he said.
"We get to see the people that care about the Breakers come out and support us, and we get to feel this kind of vibe in a joint effort and that means a lot."
