The New Zealand Breakers have put their first-up Australian NBL loss to Cairns down to early-season jitters, but acknowledge they must drain more of their shots to stand a chance in this year's campaign.
Nailing just 41 per cent of their attempted field goals, the Paul Henare-coached Breakers fell 82-71 to a solid Taipans outfit on Sunday evening.
Henare admitted the side hadn't yet blown off all their cobwebs, despite a promising pre-season that included four wins and two losses.
He said they'd be much better for the hit-out, with a short turnaround before the arrival of the Sydney Kings in Auckland on Friday.
The intensity of their Cairns match would steel them for the Kings, while the likes of Edgar Sosa and DJ Newbill would adjust to the Australian style.
"There were some first-game jitters, anxiety and excitement that led to turnovers, and in the second half we just have to finish plays - we missed lay-ups, had some good open looks that we need to knock down," Henare said.
Henare said he would especially look to his bench stocks for improvement against Sydney, and to inject some much-needed fizz in the latter stages.
The likes of Shea Ili and Finn Delany could thus be crucial.
Elsewhere, Henare also expected more from stalwart Kirk Penney, who had a stomach bug on the weekend and couldn't play a protagonist's role.
With Sydney's roster packed with guard talent, including Kevin Lisch and Jason Cadee, Penney and Tom Abercrombie needed to be fit and firing.
"We need better bench production - that has been great in the pre-season, but those numbers were down," Henare said.
"Finishing plays will result in more points on the board for us."