May looks a bit mad.
The Otago Nuggets will play four games in nine days, which will test their mettle.
But it is game one that has caught the eye of Nuggets coach Brent Matehaere.
The Nuggets will open their 2024 National Basketball League campaign with a derby against the Southland Sharks.
The NBL draw came out yesterday evening.
Otago will host Southland at the Edgar Centre on March 30, which is Easter weekend.
The Sharks got the chocolates the last time the two teams met. They thrashed the Nuggets 116-79 in Invercargill on June 5.
Nuggets fans will be treated to a run of early home games.
The Manawatu Jets visit Dunedin on April 5, the Wellington Saints will try their luck at the Edgar Centre on April 13, and the April 25 home game against the Canterbury Rams will be an interesting match-up.
The Rams knocked the Nuggets out in the semifinals last year and went on to win the title, upsetting the Auckland Tuatara 93-82.
May is hectic. The Nuggets have seven games scheduled and will play four of those in just nine days.
The Tauranga-based Whai have entered the NBL this year, expanding the league to 11 teams.
That means each side will play another two round-robin games — 20 in total.
Queenstown’s entry into the league has been put off until at least 2027.
The NBL approved a consortium’s bid for a Queenstown team to join the league in 2024, but that was contingent on improvements being made to the Events Centre, by providing seating for up to 2000 fans.
That plan has since been abandoned in favour of building a new facility, which is expected to cost up to $30 million and be completed by late 2026.
The NBL is launching a rapid league which will run alongside the main league this season.
It was trialled during the Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa season this year.
The rapid league rules have been tweaked following consultation. The most notable change has been the decision to exclude international players from the shortened format of the game.
The rapid league games will be played before NBL games.
Otago Nuggets draw
March 30: v Southland Sharks, Dunedin
April 5: v Manawatu Jets, Dunedin
April 13: v Wellington Saints, Dunedin
April 18: v Franklin Bulls, Auckland
April 25: v Canterbury Rams, Dunedin
May 2: v Canterbury Rams, Christchurch
May 5: v Nelson Giants, Dunedin
May 8: v Whai, Tauranga
May 11: v Hawke’s Bay Hawks, Napier
May 16: v Auckland Tuatara, Dunedin
May 25: v Southland Sharks, Invercargill
May 31: v Taranaki Airs, New Plymouth
June 2: v Manawatu Jets, Palmerston North
June 8: v Hawke’s Bay Hawks, Dunedin
June 12: v Taranaki Airs, Dunedin
June 19: v Auckland Tuatara, Auckland
June 23: v Whai, Dunedin
June 29: v Wellington Saints, Wellington
July 5: v Nelson Giants, Nelson
July 13: v Franklin Bulls, Dunedin
