In his post-match TV interview last night, Dillon Boucher was going on about how the Auckland Pirates had nothing to lose because pride and contracts for next season were at stake.

It seems that was about all Southland Sharks coach Richard Dickel could stomach, flicking a text to signal he was ready for his interview with Hawke’s Bay Today.

Admittedly it was an arduous day for him, having done his promotional work and put his troops through the spin dry, he had just arrived home to catch the final quarter of the televised dead rubber that saw 2011 minor premiership winners and 2010 defending champions Wellington Saints succumb 94-77 to the Pirates in Auckland.

So what did Dickel make of the implausible result in last night’s Bartercard National Basketball League (NBL) match?

“It’s the old story with nothing to lose, playing for pride and all that but Wellington were playing like they didn’t want to pick up any injuries,” was his incisive deduction.

Enough said, and that goes a long way to explaining why HBS Hawks coach Paul Henare, regally attired in a suit, was playing his cards close to his chest after his stint in last night’s TV commentary booth.

To the tune of Que Sera Sera, Dickel indicated he didn’t have any preferences about who the Sharks would like to draw in their guaranteed away quarterfinals match next week because “you’ve got to beat everybody sometime”.

Effectively, the Southerners’ destiny is in their own hands – beat the Manawatu Jets on Saturday night in Palmerston North and jet off to Trafalgar Centre to face the Nelson Giants.

Lose and they’ll have to do a U-turn and play the Hawks again next Tuesday in the quarterfinals.

While the outcome of the match against the Hawks tomorrow night won’t affect their pathway to the play-offs, Dickel will be mindful of taking a mindset on the heels of a defeat here.

Besides, the lumbering Giants look beatable to Southland, who lost 90-88 last Saturday night in Nelson.

“Some of the guys feel ripped off in Nelson, but at the end of the day we have to go wherever it takes us,” Dickel said, whose troops lost 74-62 to the Hawks at the Velodrome on April 30.

His brother, Mark Dickel, and fellow former Tall Black Brendon Polybank are pivotal in their matrix of success but Richard Dickel is happy to have a chance at play-offs considering their turbulent phase with three US imports.

“Three to four other teams are without it so we’re thankful for making that run,” he said, as the winning quarterfinalists will converge in Wellington for the first semifinals on Friday night on July 15 before the final on Sunday, July 17, at the TSB Stadium.