The NBL'S lucky charm, Lindsay Tait, has declared himself fit and ready as he lines up a seventh championship in Napier this weekend.
The 31-year-old point guard is gunning for his fourth straight title, having won in 2010 and 2011 with the Wellington Saints and last year with the now-defunct Auckland Pirates.
Tait is back in a Saints singlet this year and will return for tonight's semifinal against the Southland Sharks after missing three games with a thumb injury. "I've got through a couple of full trainings to test it out and I've pulled up fine," he said.
Even without Tait, the Saints machine was able to rumble on and finish the regular season with a franchise-best 14-2 record. Tait said his left thumb was still causing him some pain and he was likely to strap it before taking to the Pettigrew Green Arena court.
"It's never ideal with an injury but at this stage of the year I don't know if anyone's playing at 100 per cent. I'll get by, I've played with little things like this before."
While the other three teams are all worthy semifinalists, it is hard to see anyone toppling the Saints with their depth and experience.
Tait will probably be joined by Corey Webster, Bryant Markson, Casey Frank and Rick Rickert in the starting five, while Dillon Boucher provides the glue.
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Saturday, July 13
At Pettigrew Green Arena, Napier
Semi-finals
GAME ONE (LIVE SKY SPORT FOUR)
Wellington Saints v Zerofees Southland Sharks, 5.40pm
Referees – Tim Brown, Dallas Pickering, Raewyn Willocks
Live Stats
GAME TWO (LIVE SKY SPORT FOUR)
OceanaGold Nuggets v Fico Finance Nelson Giants, 8pm
Referees – Melony Wealleans, Gavin Zimmerman, Yalla Edwards