But Otago Nuggets replacement import John Barber jun was so tired during his first game for the franchise he almost fell asleep shortly after taking a seat on the bench.
Barber was called into the squad to replace injured centre Antoine Tisby two weeks ago.
He arrived in Dunedin from Detroit on the Friday and was promptly whisked down to Invercargill for a Saturday night fixture against the Southland Sharks.
By anyone's standards, Barber did not have the best night.
He landed just one of his 10 attempts from the floor and the Nuggets were beaten 80-63.
"Coming off the plane, that was a very hard game to play," Barber said.
"I still managed to get 10 rebounds but I was just so tired. When I was on the bench I almost fell asleep."
At the aftermatch function there was no "almost" about it, coach Alf Arlidge said.
But the 1.98m forward has recovered from his jet-lag and is looking forward to putting together a much better performance when the Nuggets play the Wellington Saints at the Edgar Centre on Friday.
The Nuggets are 0-9 in their comeback season and desperate for their first win.
"I'm not here to rescue them so much. We'd like a couple of wins but most importantly I'm here to help these younger guys out," he explained.
It is Barber's second trip to New Zealand.
He played for the Nelson Giants last season and had hoped to return to the Giants this season but the franchise went in a different direction.
While Barber has only been with the Nuggets two weeks, he said the differences between the two teams were obvious.
"There is a lot of experience in the Giants squad," he said.
"And they win more games."
With players like Phill Jones and Tony Rampton, Barber was able to slot into the Giants side and learn from his experienced team-mates.
At the Nuggets he has a completely different role.
The Nuggets have a young and inexperienced roster that is promising rather than competitive.
"Tony Rampton and those guys helped me out a lot and now I can use what I learnt to help these guys," he said.
Since turning out for the Giants, Barber has not had a lot of court time.
He has been doing some coaching at schools in Detroit and was not as fit as he could be when he arrived.
"All I needed was a couple of training sessions.
"I've been doing some extra cardio sessions with the trainer and I'm back up to high performance."
On court, Barber's role is to rebound, defend and rebound some more.
But the 25-year-old is confident he can get his offensive game going.
He is an athletic player with the ability to crash the boards, cause mismatches on defence and shoot from the perimeter.
Any help he can provide the Nuggets from the outside would be gladly accepted.
The franchise has the worst shooting statistics in the league - just 37% from the floor and 25.1% from the three-point line - and averages a paltry 70 points a game.
