The Nuggets have started the season with seven consecutive losses but Sharks coach Richard Dickel believes they will win some games this year.
He is just hoping their first is not this week.
"Otago are going to win a few games this season and I think they will be targeting us," Dickel said.
"We've got a big task on our hands and I think it is going to be a lot closer than expected."
Dickel, who played for the Nuggets in the late 1990s and also had a three-year stint as assistant coach, is from a prominent Dunedin sporting family.
His father, Carl Dickel, played basketball and cricket for Otago and coached the Nuggets from 1994 to 1997.
Richard's younger brother, Mark, played for the Nuggets and went on to have a successful international career with the Tall Blacks.
So, the Nuggets are in Dickel's blood, even if he is down in Invercargill plotting his former side's demise this week.
On form, the Sharks will go into the match as favourites.
Southland has had three wins from eight games in its debut season but could have easily have had another three wins, with close losses to the Nelson Giants and the Taranaki Mountain Airs and an overtime loss to the Hawke's Bay Hawks in the first round.
The Nuggets, in contrast, have been struggling to compete, conceding an average of 95.8 points while posting an average of 70.1 points.
A losing margin of 25 points is huge in a sport in which teams are reluctant to run the score up.
But Dickel is adamant the Nuggets are no easy-beats.
He made the trip up from Invercargill to scout the Nuggets' game against the Nelson Giants at the Edgar Centre on Saturday night.
While the result was a lopsided win to the Giants, Dickel believes the Nuggets showed plenty of promise, especially considering they were without key player Antoine Tisby, who was ruled out with a foot injury.
"I know what I saw on Saturday night.
I saw a team that could, if they hit their shots from the outside, beat or be competitive with any team in the league.
But they've got a lot of young guys who, with respect, are role players.
"Tyler [Amaya] and Antoine are fantastic players and the Nuggets have a lot of guys who can play a role from the bench.
But, in my opinion, to ask those guys to do it every night is a big push."
Dickel said support for the Southland side has been fantastic, with bumper crowds flocking to see the Sharks in their debut season.
On Friday night, 2400 "incredibly loud and really parochial"people turned out to see the Sharks play the Nelson Giants.
The Sharks lost 74-72 but there was no shame in losing to a quality side which dismantled the Nuggets the following evening.
While the Sharks have had some success, Dickel was keen to dampen expectations.
"We're only eight games into the season, so there is still a long way to go.
"We just want to build something which is sustainable down here and create an environment where players want to play."
Dickel would not rule out his brother, Mark, slipping on the Sharks singlet sometime in the future but said it definitely would not be this year.
