Davies, a police officer who has just scored an 8am-4pm attachment with the CIB, returned to roost with the Hawks with his twin brother and fellow officer Dwayne last season after they graduated from their police training college in Wellington following five years of swotting.
In his third season with the Bay franchise, the 28-year-old didn't see much game time last winter as the Hawks frustratingly lost the final to the Wellington Saints in the capital city minus the services of former Tall Black Winitana who didn't take the court due to his religious beliefs.
That drew the ire of franchise boss Rod Earnshaw who vented his spleen on the NBL board for agreeing to move the final from a Saturday to a Sunday to accommodate Sky TV.
Nevertheless, like many bench boys, for Davies getting valuable minutes is vital in a vicious cycle where a player can't prove their worth until they run on.
Having run on, they have limited time in which to perform nothing short of miracles.
"I don't mind it but it can be a bit frustrating. It wasn't a hell of a lot of game time," he says with a grin, adding it was difficult with having the calibre of players such as Chris Daniel and Josh Pace who are plying their trade with Taranaki Mountain Airs and Manawatu Jets, respectively, this year.
Forward Arthur Trousdell has also moved to the Saints in a season when the franchise is on a conscious drive to recruit Bay players to ensure the fans identify with the team when they besiege the PG Arena come game time.
Stepping up, according to the gospel of Henare and Winitana, is their way to game time.
Championing himself as a three-point specialist, the former Napier Boys' High School student lauds his employers for their support in finding time to train with the Hawks although nailing the CIB stint was just a coincidence.
"With having to chase people now and then [on the police beat] it does help to be fit."
Living in Napier with wife Denise and their boys, Tyrese, 12, and Isaiah, 11, Davies considers himself fortunate to be playing considering brother Dwyane has to look after his six children while wife Shelley completes a midwifery degree.
The Hastings-born Davies boys started playing basketball at the age of 12 with the support of parents Johnina and Alan Davies after following a cousin, Renee Beattie, of Napier, who was an age-group national representative.
Tuala-Fata, of Flaxmere, is also in his third season but doesn't mind warming the bench provided the Hawks are winning.
"I'm playing behind some of New Zealand's top point guards - Jarrod Kenny and Aidan Daly - so I'm like a sponge waiting for his time," says the 25-year-old Massey University health science graduate who is the Pacifica teacher at Peterhead School.
He made his debut for the Hawks in 2005 and then in 2008 and last year but not making last season's cull has made the Samoan even more determined to play this year.
Like Davies, he aims to meet Henare's demands.
"I'm in great shape, the best I've ever been, actually," he says, willing to help defensively and offensively off the bench when required.
He follows in the footsteps of two elder brothers, Peleti Tuala-Fata (1994-95) and Paul Tuala-Fata (2001), who played for the Hawks.
The Auckland-born Reece Tuala-Fata moved to the Bay with his mother, Sega Va'asili-Tuala, for a better lifestyle.
He is married to Rhandelle Tuala-Fata, an early childhood teacher and part-time personal trainer, and they have two daughters, Glacier, 7, and 20-month-old Peyton.
Mindful a point guard is like a hands-on coach on the court come game day, Tuala-Fata is willing to play the game of patience and fill in if someone is injured.
