Phill Jones has played 300 games in the national basketball league – and can remember most of them; from his debut with the Nelson Giants in 1993, to his first championship in 1994 and the second four years later, through a couple against the Giants during a season with Otago, a gut-knotting loss in the 2002 final until the most recent, Tuesday's quarterfinal victory over Southland's Sharks in the current campaign.

So which stands out?

"There have been lots of memorable ones, but the only one that matters this week is the next one," Jones said.

He will lead the Fico Finance Giants into Hamilton tomorrow to take on the Waikato Pistons, defending champions in the Bartercard NBL in a one-night only engagement, a sudden-death semifinal to see who progresses to next week's title series.

The two teams played last year's finals, the Pistons winning 2-0 and leading for most of this season until being run down by Wellington in the last weeks of the round robin.

Jones said the thought of playoff basketball kindles the flames in his 36-year-old frame.

"It's what everyone is trying to achieve and I've been lucky to be involved with it [playoff basketball] more often that not," he said.

Lucky? Maybe not. Jones is still averaging better than 20 points a game for the Giants, while he has developed into a polished passer, who can also help out on the boards.

His list of league honours is longer than team-mate Tony Rampton's inside leg measurement.

He's in such good nick – a fact he credits to the Giants fitness and physio therapy team – that he's even rescinding an earlier decision to retire from international basketball and will throw his singlet in the ring in a bid to be chosen for the Tall Blacks travelling to the world champs in Turkey later this year.

"I've got to be picked but, if Nenad [Vucinic, Tall Blacks coach] wants me, I am available.

"I've had the usual niggles and soreness, but Karrin and co have kept me on court and I love it. I want to play every minute.

"You're a long time retired, so if I feel good and I can play my way in, I'd love to give it another crack."

First things first though, and the Giants will take a patched-up unit to Hamilton to face a Waikato side that is also facing injury strife. Nelson is playing wait-and-see with Mika Vukona (knee) and Darryl Jones (hamstring), while the Pistons could lose 4.18 metres of height and 200-plus kilograms of heft if Mike Homik and Alex Pledger can't make tipoff time.

"Obviously, we are a weaker team without Mika and DJ," Jones said. "I'm not writing either of those guys off, because they are up there with the toughest players in the league, but you can't control some of these things.

"If they can't play, then that leaves room for Sam [Dempster], that leaves room for Bronson [Beri]. What better time for a young guy to make a name than in a sudden-death playoff game?"

The Giants hit a speedbump late in the season with consecutive home losses, but have regrouped strongly to finish with two big wins over Southland, five days apart. Confidence is high as they head north.

"We have lifted a couple of levels, certainly our defence has been back closer to where we need it to be in a sudden death situation. Defence can dig you out of holes," he said. "If we are not scoring, it's vital that you really lock it down and keep playing `d' to get through the drought."

Waikato are loaded with guns, Tom Abercrombie and Hayden Allen especially capable of scoring in bunches, while Pledger and Tony Ronaldson eat up huge amounts of real estate under the basket, yet can drift outside to make long jumpshots.

Nelson's frontline, especially if Vukona can play, is much quicker, while Waikato's is considerably wider.

Even with 300 NBL games under his waistband, and dozens more in international leagues from Finland to Australia to Italy, Jones says he still gets nervous and edgy at this time of the season. "It's good to be nervous," he said. "If you're not nervous, you probably don't care enough.

"For me, and my guys, this time of year is what we train in January for, or play through an injury for. It's like a new season.

"You win, you get another game but lose and you just join the thousands watching from the outside."

NBL basketball semifinals, Fico Finance Nelson Giants v Waikato Pistons, tomorrow, from 7pm, Hamilton Boys' High School.

THE PHILL FILE

Phill Jones began his career for the Nelson Giants back in 1993 and has played all of his 16 seasons with them, apart from 1999 when he played for the Otago Nuggets.

He also missed two NBL seasons while playing professionally in Italy.

The Reefton Kid has scored more than 5500 points, with a career average of just under 19 points a game.

During that span, Jones has shot the ball at nearly 40 per cent from three-point range, adding more than 1000 rebounds, 700 assists and nearly 500 steals.

Jones won two championships with the Giants (1994, 1998), is a six-time Best New Zealand Guard Winner, twice most outstanding guard, four-time NZ MVP and won last year's overall Most Valuable Player award.

* Source: Basketball NZ