The pair returned to our shores at the weekend sans souvenirs, but armed with a wealth of knowledge to take into the Dragons’ new-season campaign.

The seven-day visit to the States was spent with NBA heavyweights the San Antonio Spurs, where Cowan and Heal gained a rare insight into the inner workings of the club.

“It was a really positive experience,” Cowan said.

“To see the level of professionalism they have as a club was really good and that extended to everything they did. It was a pretty impressive organisation.”

The Dragons duo spent the week with Spurs players, coaches and administrative staff trading ideas on a wide range of basketball issues.

A highlight for both was the chance to cheer the Spurs on to consecutive wins against the Seattle Sonics and the Phoenix Suns at the club’s home stadium.

“Getting to see the games first hand was really interesting, with 18,500 people in the stadium and not a spare seat in the place, it was inspiring,” Cowan said.

While the NBA is largely a whole new ball game to Australia’s national league, Cowan and Heal learned some valuable lessons from the sharp-shooting Texans.

“I think just understanding more about the culture of the club and the way they’ve built that (is important), because that’s something we’re very much looking to develop, the right kind of culture at our club,” Cowan said.

“It was a really positive culture in the way they went about everything. It was professionally organised and it was good to sit down with the various people and understand how they went about their role and how it worked within the organisation.”

As the NBA season draws to a close, Cowan will look to continue the Dragons’ association with the US powerhouse into season 2007-’08 and beyond.

“They were really great individually in offering assistance and input and we’ll certainly take advantage of that,” he said.