Knox to notch a hundred
Darcy Knox used to sweep the floor at the Edgar Centre.
This afternoon he will bring up 100 games for the Otago Nuggets when they play the Wellington Saints in Porirua.
It has been quite a journey for the Nuggets captain.
"Oh, it's really special," he said.
"It was never a particular goal I set out to accomplish or anything like that. But it has been very easy to keep coming back because I love playing for our city and for our region.
"I started this six years ago in the Showdown but also before that ... I was a development player.
"And looking back even further, I first started coming as a kid to watch the games ... and I was a floor sweeper as well — so going from being a floor sweeper as a kid coming to the Nuggets camps to reaching 100 games as a player is pretty cool."
The 30-year-old point guard is the third Nugget to reach the milestone this year, so he has had some mates along for the journey.
He joins Josh Aitcheson and Matthew Bardsley in the 100 club.
The trio have played a ton of basketball together over the years.
They have won two championships together, flatted together and roomed together, so it was only fitting they bring up 100 games just weeks apart.
"Josh I've played with since 2016 and we grew up playing reps. He's my flatmate as well, and then Bards, we've been great mates. We were roommates at the 2020 Showdown."
The Nuggets won the 2020 Showdown. The tournament had to be reworked because of Covid and the entire competition was played in Auckland.
All the players stayed in the same hotel. It was an intense time, and is one of Knox's favourite basketball memories.
The 2022 title was up there as well.
But in terms of individual games, the win against a full-strength Saints side in the capital in 2023 really stood out.
"We had a couple of other guys out and you know we were really up against it. I remember the commentators cutting us down big time.
"We played our hearts out. We played together and we left everything on the floor.
"It was one of those rivalry games, and to get the win when we were up against a full-strength Saints squad in Wellington in front of 4000 people was really cool.
"But some of the most memorable stuff is actually in those down moments as well.
"You know, when you keep it together as a group or when it's tough and the things you learn from that.
"I think that's where you build as a player and as a person, in those kind of valleys more than in the peaks.
"The peaks kind of come from going through those tough times and being able to stick with it as a group."
The Nuggets will need to do that this afternoon. They are on a nine-game losing streak, and the Saints are one of the form teams in the competition.
It might be another one of those learning opportunities Knox mentioned.
They have struggled to contain teams, but their defence has improved since the departure of Jose Perez.
They lost some scoring power with his exit. But Jonathan Janssen stepped up in his absence and Don Carey jun remains a major threat. NBL Nuggets v Saints
Otago Nuggets: Patrick Freeman, Jonathan Janssen, Don Carey jun, Joshua Aitcheson, Jaylen Sebree, Michael Ruske, Matthew Bardsley, Darcy Knox, Caleb Smiler, Liam Boomer, Noah McDowall.
Wellington Saints (possible): Nicholas Marshall, Izayah Mauriohooho Le Afa, Jordan Ngatai, Hyrum Harris, Nicholas Muszynski, Samuel Gold, Hassan Munir, Rangimarie Dougall-Mita, Lukah Richards, Kazlo Evans, Arthur Pilcher
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