The new Otago Nuggets coach arrived in Dunedin from Melbourne on Sunday.
It is his first time in the South Island, let alone the city.
The 57-year-old is staying ‘‘up on a hill somewhere’’ and used Google Maps to find the Edgar Centre.
He was very interested in cafe recommendations.
But that is not at the top of his priority list, although who would deny the former Australian National Basketball League coach of the year (2020) a caffeine hit with the workload he has in front of him?
The Nuggets open their National Basketball League campaign against the Southland Sharks at the Edgar Centre on March 14.
They will be in action 10 days earlier during the league’s week-long Blitz tournament on the West Coast.
So far, the Nuggets have just three players on their books.
Experienced Nuggets small forward Josh Aitcheson will join Darcy Knox and Matthew Bardsley for the 2025 season.
There has been other recruitment work done and further announcements are pending.
But the roster looks awfully thin. The import slots are empty. The pipeline between the Otago Nuggets and Perth Wildcats is closed. And it is still unclear who will join him on the coaching and management staff.
Kelly, who was let go by South East Melbourne Phoenix in October, signed late in the piece with the Nuggets and is still in catch-up mode.
‘‘It’s been very busy, especially with a lot of the Kiwi players being already signed with other teams or being committed to other teams,’’ he said.
‘‘So, yeah, it’s just been kind of go, go, go with myself and with Ange [Ruske, Nuggets general manager] in constant communication over the last few weeks.’’
They have clawed back some ground.
He is confident he will have a solid crew of local players, headed by Bardsley, Knox and Aitcheson. Each player is closing in on 100 games for the club.
‘‘I obviously knew Darcy, Matt and Josh from watching them play and was able to get a good feel going back and watching film.
‘‘But I really didn’t know the young guys here that well. So just being here this week with two trainings has been really good just to see, I guess, some of the skill sets and the size of guys and how they play and react to contact.
‘‘So I think I’ve got a better feel just from a couple of days with the guys on the floor. And so that makes me feel a little better about what we have here.
‘‘But we’re still working on the rest of the roster, both imports and locals.
‘‘We’ve got some traction there, but until deals are done, they’re not done.’’
In the past few seasons, the Nuggets have done very well out of their relationship with the Perth Wildcats.
The teams shared the same owner — Sports Entertainment Network — but the Wildcats have been sold off to tech entrepreneur Mark Arena.
Kelly, who was an associate head coach at the Wildcats from 2021 to 2023, said ‘‘the short answer is no’’ when asked if the player conveyor belt between Perth and Dunedin was still running.
‘‘There is nothing official with Perth, but I think there’s still a good relationship there with, well, with the whole organisation. But [particularly] with Danny Mills, the general manager, who really had a lot to do with Otago previously.
‘‘I’m still close with Danny, so I talk to him occasionally.
‘‘But no, there’s really no pipeline there with the Wildcats. They’re not going to park people with us like they have in the past.’’
Who is going to park up on the bench assisting Kelly this season is still open-ended.
‘‘I mean, the roster has been the first priority for me. But I have had some side conversations going on for the coaching staff.
‘‘I’m hopeful in the next couple of weeks to have that all nailed down.’’
Kelly has a long coaching and playing resume.
The Californian native spent 13 seasons in the Australian National Basketball League as a player. He won a title with the South East Melbourne Magic in 1996 and was named finals MVP.
He was twice named best defensive player in the league.
Following his retirement, he took up coaching and was an assistant coach when Melbourne United claimed the 2018 title. Two years later, he was named coach of the year for helping lift the performance of the Cairns Taipans.
But coaching is a brutal business. The Taipans’ form fell away the following year and he was sacked.
He moved on to the Wildcats and had a two-year stint there before signing with the Phoenix, who cut him during his second season.
The rollercoaster ride has has led him to New Zealand and he is excited about the challenge ahead.
He has signed for a year, and getting the Nuggets back into the playoff picture is a challenge he will have to wrestle with alone.
His wife, Annette, has remained in Melbourne. The couple have three adult children: Ashton, 26, lives in Brisbane, Kiersten, 25, is moving to Adelaide to attend university, and Joshua, 21, is working in Melbourne.
The Nuggets will be his surrogate family as he looks to stamp his mark on the team.
‘‘I love the opportunity here. And the great thing is I’m really not starting from scratch just because I think the local guys are the backbone of this team.
‘‘And whether they play 25 minutes a game or they play five minutes per game, I think they are really solid guys.
‘‘They know what the Otago Nuggets are about more so than I do.
‘‘[My job is] to try to help that group build from that.’’
