South Dragons coach Brian Goorjian has challenged the New Zealand Breakers to 'come and get' his team's No.1 ranking on the NBL ladder when the two teams lock horns in their top-of-the-table encounter on Saturday night.
Goorjian, who labelled the match as a must-win for his team, said the reward of home-court advantage in the playoffs and an automatic semi-finals berth was something South was willing to fight tooth and nail for.
And although Goorjian admitted the Dragons were a tired outfit after experiencing back-to-back losses for the first time this season last weekend, he insisted they would throw everything at second-placed New Zealand at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC) before going on a much-needed 16-day break.
"I think we have to have that (must-win) mindset, they're coming in to our practice facility, it's on our home court," he said following the team's training session on Thursday at the MSAC.
"We've got that first place, (it's up to the Breakers to) come and get it, we're not going to give this thing up."
Goorjian believes his side's ability to learn to play fatigued will be critical to its bid to win a maiden championship.
"We've played more than anybody in the competition," he said.
"It's like the 20-mile mark of a marathon, we've hit the wall and I think we haven't played good in a half-court, walk-up game and we might be in that situation as well on Saturday night so again we're being tested in an area that they haven't been tested before."
Goorjian has been recently concerned about the energy levels of stars Mark Worthington and Joe Ingles, who both had Olympic duties before the season kicked off, in particular but is confident they will produce the goods against the Breakers.
And while the Dragons coach admitted he has taken some confidence out of the way Sydney handled Kirk Penney on Saturday night during the Spirit's 86-85 win, the competition's leading scorer won't be South's sole focus.
"Where they go when they need a basket is to those post players and that's (Tony) Ronaldson and (Rick) Rickert," said Goorjian who is also preparing for injured star New Zealand guard CJ Bruton to front up for the match..
"They've got good balance and they're good in the half-courts, so if we can disrupt a little bit, keep a hand in Penney's pocket and do something with Ronaldson and Rickert on the block in the half-court and force a running game I think we've got a good chance."
Preparations for the Australian Open tennis tournament have meant the huge clash won't be played at South's customary home court at Hisense Arena, which is capable of catering for 10,500 fans, but Goorjian isn't fussed by playing at the MSAC's boutique, 2000-capacity show court instead.
Meanwhile the coaching legend believes the Julius Hodge walk-out saga in Adelaide is actually a positive for the sport.
"You have characters in this sport and I think the media attention on that I don't think it's bad for our game," he said.
"I thought the (Adelaide-Wollongong) game was played great last night, I thought the Adelaide local players and their Australian contingent dug deep and I think it's a great story ... we need some buzz about this thing and Julius Hodge in some form or another is bringing energy to this thing."