Another pointless exercise is when outfits are four rounds into a campaign and everyone's talking about who will be the coach next season.
So when the Breakers run on to the court to tip off at the Pettigrew Green Arena in Taradale from 2pm Henare will be seriously looking at the blokes who will write the preamble of their constitution leading into the 2017-18 Australian National Basketball League (ANBL) season starting early next month.
It'll even be a renaissance of sorts for captain and hard man Mika Vukona returning from some well-earned R&R.
The Tall Blacks coach says the players have been together for only a fortnight so a modicum of improvement to suggest they are finding a sense of cohesiveness and vision is imperative.
"So far the stage where we're at, with the time together with this group, I'm happy but we still have a lot of room for improvement, as you'd expect at this stage of the season."
Melbourne United, the former Taylor Corp Hawks player/captain/coach feels, are a quality outfit who are pre-season favourites to claim the ANBL crown.
"We're coming up against a very talented side so for us. While we are going to pay attention to what Melbourne are doing and the style of game they're going to play, it's really a focus on us as No 1 and that we're improving."
While keen to show spectators what they're about, the Breakers aim to be productive with their time in helping the community with their knowledge and experience.
New imports DJ Newbill and Edgar Sosa are easing into Henare's equation although Sosa, a point guard from the Dominican Republic, sat out a lion's share of the Blitz with a niggly Achilles and calf strain.
"Those guys have fit in really, really well in the locker room and away on the court with the team so I'm happy with the integration."
Henare says American guard Newbill is an aggressive beast and his versatility means he is capable of filling most of the "small" positions.
"The guys are hungry for more game time in our system so it'll be a key time against the opposition to get really well settled before the season starts."
Newbill and Sosa will definitely be on the floor here in what Henare bills as a "legit preparation".
So how have the Breakers mutated from last season?
Henare has retained eight of the players from last season to define a core, with the attributes of the imports - they can still include another import in their roster - providing an X factor.
"I'd like to think we're much more healthier than we were last [season] when we struggled with injuries right from the pre-season so we've made sure in the off-season we're going into this season pretty healthy."
However, Henare stresses, it is sport and the prudent always allows for the unexpected.
Hopefully, the Breakers will find themselves in a better place to deal with it should the situation arise again.
"We're a tough physical side and that's how the boys like to play but we also have some good exciting players on the perimeter with outside shooting so I think we have some good balance both inside and out."
As a coach, Henare likes to think he's dynamic and forever evolving into the role akin to other mentors.
"I'm not different. I'm always looking to make improvements on all aspects of my coaching and, hopefully, will keep doing so as long as I'm coaching."
Melbourne United are playing the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 8 in the NBA pre-season in the United States. The Sydney Kings (v Utah Jazz on October 2) and the Brisbane Bullets (v Phoenix Suns on October 13) are the other ANBL sides scheduled for big-time basketball.
The visitors have familiar faces in former Breakers and New Zealand NBL coach Dean Vickerman at the helm as coach and New Zealander Tai Wesley.
Melbourne United last week proved the pundits wrong in winning the pre-season hit out in Victoria, the ANBL Blitz, after a don't-argue 26-point result over reigning regular season champions Perth Wildcats in the final although the latter were reportedly under-strength.
The Bullets surged into the final round of games in Melbourne to lend some credence to their favouritism but stumbled against Cairns Taipans 102-90.
That saw Melbourne locked on 14 points with the Illawarra Hawks after three games but the former lifted the Loggins-Bruton Cup after the numbers were crunched on countback.
The Breakers finished fourth on 12.5 points, behind the Bullets (13.5).
Henare says while it was Breakers general manager Dillon Boucher's decision to revisit the PG Arena after last year, the team enjoy spreading the gospel according to basketball around the country.
"We know there's the realisation that we have fans around the country so to come to a place like Hawke's Bay, Taranaki [New Plymouth] and Tauranga is a good chance to get among fans and kids as well as the wider basketball community. It's just to spend time with people who would normally just see us on the TV screens."
From here, the Breakers will face Melbourne in New Plymouth on Tuesday next week before hosting the Brisbane Bullets in Tauranga on September 27.
Emphasising it's always Boucher's call, Napier-born Henare is reluctant to say the Breakers will play a regular season game at the PG Arena anytime soon, considering the last time the franchise did venture out of its base to do that was in 2003.
"I don't think it's in the pipeline anytime soon but with the way things are going it's good to get out to spend as much time around the country as we can," says the former Napier Boys' High School student.
