When the phone rang at the Jones home, it was lunch time, at least one of the kids was crying and Phill was dealing with ``cobwebs the size of some of the rooms''.

Such is the lot of a professional basketballer in Nelson.

Phill, wife Kat and their young children were finding their way on their first day back in the province after a summer stint in Cairns, playing in the Australian national basketball league with the Taipans. He went there after being squeezed out at the New Zealand Breakers and, although the Taipans struggled all season, barely sidestepping the wooden spoon, Jones enjoyed his time in tropical North Queensland.

``It was too hot and you'd be a little more cautious of these cobwebs over there, but overall it was a good place to be,'' he said.

``They were real good people and the team was pretty well run. It's always going to be a battle to get the kind of money needed to guarantee a future there but the team lacked nothing in terms of community support.''

Jones captained the Taipans, a role he will reprise over the winter with the Fico Finance Nelson Giants in the Bartercard NBL. He joined the Giants in 1993 and last season passed 5000 league points, even though he fitted in overseas stints in Greece, Finland and Italy.

Despite the need to remain mobile to make a living from the sport, Jones and his family have their roots in Nelson.

``I like being in Nelson. If people don't know that by now, then they have probably never heard of either me or the Giants.''

This is clearly where the veteran shooting guard will end his career, but there are few signs of that happening just yet. He was the Giants' player of the season last year as he led the team to a runner-up finish and he still managed to pile up some high scoring games in the Australian league.

``I got sick in Perth mid-season and lost about 5kg and that knocked me back a bit but generally it went okay.

``I had to pick my spots a bit with the squad we had and some games I got 25 points and others it might have been 3.''

Jones was thrilled to have a familiar face in the Cairns camp, Giants centre Tony Rampton getting a late callup to the Taipans roster. Rampton, wife Nicky and their two children were firm friends with the Jones family before they hooked up in Australia and it made the transition to a new town easier for all concerned.

``We saw a lot of Ramps and his family  he had a pool and we didn't  and it was great having him around. We'd come from the Nelson season together and rolled straight on to Cairns and now back to Nelson. It just provides a connection and stability for everyone.''

Rampton's role with the Taipans saw him operate primarily as a practice player, offering cover for 2.11m Australian centre Ian Crosswhite and American big men Dusty Rychart and Rich Melzer. Jones said the Taipans could have got much more out of the 2.12m Giants post player.

``You know with Ramps, he'll never quit and never back down and maybe that wasn't what you'd say about Ian. It means Tony's itching to play now because he stayed fit and ready all the way through and certainly could have played more minutes than he got.''

As for Jones, he admits to feeling a few of his 36 birthdays these days but knows his love of the game will get him through the first couple of weeks as he gets his legs under him.

He hadn't trained for two weeks before arriving in Nelson last Wednesday and went into the Giants' season opener against Waikato with two practice sessions behind him.

``There's a couple of wee niggles there but I'll run them out. It's just a feeling that I haven't done much in the last two weeks and training with the boys was a bit of a shock to the system.''

Numbing the pain was the number of familiar faces he saw at that first practice. Along with the likes of Darryl Jones, Josh Bloxham, Steve Bill, Ben Wright, Bronson Beri, Nico Ritschny and Sam Dempster from last year, the Giants have re-signed point guard Mike Fitchett and American forward Michael Harrison with Tall Black Mika Vukona due back this week.

``Fitch is back where he belongs and Mika has always played his best basketball either in the Nelson Giants or when he's being coached by Giants coaches [Nenad Vucinic and Chris Tupu] in the Tall Blacks.

``Add Mike H in there with the things he brings and this Giants squad is as good as any they've brought together in recent seasons. With Mike, Mika and Tony on court, there won't be many rebounds going spare  that means I can just run three-point line to three-point line.''

Jones is also welcoming the stability offered by new naming rights sponsors for both the Giants and the league.

Fico Finance joined the Nelson organisation last month and has pledged a five-year commitment, general manager Scott Dodd saying that the team can concentrate on winning games while Fico provides the financial security.

Jones has also had dealings with NBL backer Paul Bolte and Bartercard when he was with the Breakers. ``Paul loves his sport, he has a real passion and he's a very genuine guy. Both those commitments mean a lot, one for basketball in Nelson and one on the national scale.''

After just 24 hours in the country, Jones hadn't had the chance to cast a critical eye over the league but he rated Nelson among the contenders, along with Harbour, Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Waikato and Christchurch while ``no-one is going to go to Invercargill and expect an easy time of it''.

``Seeing Auckland out of it for the first time since the league started was a bit of a shock but the depth and the talent is there to make this a huge year for the NBL.

``Guys are thinking ahead to the world champs, you've got last year's under-19 internationals filtering into the squads, some pretty exciting new import players coming in. With businesses starting to get behind us, it looks like it could be a heck of a basketball season.''