His comments come in the wake of the shock news the Hoiho’s owners have surrendered the playing licence.
The Hoiho will not participate in Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa this year unless someone comes to the rescue.
The National Basketball League declined to comment earlier this week.
But the usual protocol is the NBL will hold on to the playing licence before deciding whether it will pass it on, or call for expressions of interest.
SEN Teams are the registered owners of the Hoiho and they also own the Otago Nuggets.
The company’s chief executive Richard Simkiss could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Marshall did not want to speculate as to the reasons behind the decision to hand back the Hoiho playing licence.
But he was thankful for the owners’ support during the past three seasons.
"The first thing I have to do is to thank SEN.
"They’ve put their effort in and if things are going to change, then I’ve got nothing but gratitude for what they’ve done for our sport here," he said.
"Now it’s just about letting the people that administer our game see if they can find a way of making it continue.
"My job is to coach and support in any way I can.
"I’ve got full faith in the work that gets done in the background, so I don’t really have too many stresses or concerns there.
"Hopefully, something will be put in place that means we can continue and I’m sure people are working to make that happen."
Basketball Otago general manager Jodi Brown said she was surprised to learn the playing licence had been ceded.
"It is disappointing that SEN is not carrying that on.
"I hope that someone in Dunedin takes that on and keeps the team here," she said.
"To be honest, I don’t think we are in a position to do that at the moment.
"It has been a really good thing for Basketball Otago to be able to focus on the community game and the grassroots rather than the elite level.
"But I would still like to see a pathway for our players."
Brown played for the Gold Rush — the predecessor of the Hoiho — and both her daughters are promising basketballers.
Her oldest, Kiana, has trained with the Hoiho previously.
"She just loved being involved and being able to look up to the players like Zoe Richards and Samara Gallaher.
"To train alongside them was a massive opportunity, so if that gets taken away it would be really disappointing.
"We want to make sure our female players can see a pathway to playing professional sport."
Hoiho forward Gallaher described the news as a shock.
But she was optimistic someone would come forward.
"I remember back when I played for the Gold Rush, the [budget] was always a point of conversation because it is quite expensive to run and operate a team.
"But even back then we had amazing support from people in the community who saw how valuable it was to us all as women, for the game and for the next generation coming through.
"And somehow we always found a way.
"I look back on the last three years with the Hoiho and the amount of support we have received ... from people who have seen how cool our programme is.
"So I am fully optimistic."
