Basketball: Boucher does the hard yards

Dylan Boucher is hungry to win this one. Picture / Hawke's Bay Today

Dillon Boucher is one of those sportspeople who overtook others with more talent because he put in more effort.

Boucher went to the Goodwill Games as video man for the Tall Blacks but was drafted in when Sean Marks was ruled out - it says much for his consistency of effort that he has been there ever since.

Boucher has won more NBL titles than any other player, eight in all with Auckland and Waikato.

"This one means just as much. It feels like we have a big target on our backs, it's not going to be easy and that makes it more worthwhile," he said.

"That record means I should be a leader, I want to go out and show the guys how it's done. It's a record I'm really proud of."

Boucher feels he and the team have lifted since the loss of 2005 MVP Lindsay Tait. "Everyone has taken a bit more on their shoulders and raised the bar.

We're always confident in the Auckland team and that's a philosophy that's paid off in the past. We'll be confident on Saturday."

He saw no psychological advantage in having beaten the other three playoff teams in Auckland in recent weeks.

Hawks beat them in Napier and the Giants in Nelson and the Wellington team had changed markedly. "On any given day, any one of these teams could beat any other," Boucher said.

"In playoffs, it's a matter of how badly you want it."

Auckland born-and-raised, Boucher has openly admitted he'd like to return to the Breakers, where he played two seasons before being released and shifting to Perth. That meant daily training and 10-day road trips that took him away from wife Nikki, son Jayden, 5, and daughter Mackenzee, 2.

Back "home," he gets to spend all day with the family and leaves for training as the kids are heading to bed. Road trips don't last more than two days.

"I feel rejuvenated. It's given me time to allow the body to heal and recover and mentally it's allowed me to regather my enthusiasm for basketball."

He's looking forward to playing a home-an-away test series against Australia in July then the World Championships in Japan.

DILLON BOUCHER
Team: Stars

* Born: 27/12/75 Auckland

* 1.96m small forward

* 235 NBL games since debut for Auckland 1994. Titles with Auckland in 1995, 96, 97, 99, 2004 and 05 and with Waikato in 2002.

* 25 playoff games. Averaged 9 points at 57 per cent accuracy, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals.

* Tall Blacks 2001-2006.

* Breakers 2003-2004, Perth 2005/06, Brisbane 2006/07.