Paul Henare has enjoyed a decorated career in basketball. As a player he was a regular for the Tall Blacks, he won two New Zealand National League titles with Auckland Stars in 1999/2000 and in his final season with the NZ Breakers Henare was a key part of the team that became the first New Zealand sporting franchise to win in an Australian League (since achieved also by the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic netball team).

Henare then hung up the basketball shoes and went coaching, first into the national league back in his home town of Napier, and for the past 3 seasons with the Southland Sharks. His impact was immediate, winning a Championship with the Sharks in 2013. It was due partly to that strong transition into coaching but also the mana of the man that he was fast tracked as an assistant coach to the Tall Blacks in 2013 and also signed back at the Breakers in the same role, working under Dean Vickerman.

Before we fully understand how Henare approaches his role as an assistant coach, let’s better understand what that role entails at the Breakers.

“My official role is defensive coordinator, that falls under the assistant coach umbrella in our system. I scout the opposition, their team and their systems. I am in charge of getting the tapes of our next opposition, compare how we match up against them, break that down into a scout video of about 5 minutes that show what their team traits are, what they like to run – how they score the basketball basically. That is my number one role with the video backed up by a written scout report and the on-court implementation of all that we learn through that process.”

Chemistry and culture are also important though, especially for Henare as the club has built its reputation on a values-based system that has led to three championships in four years.

“I think for any coaching staff and for any head coach one of the most important things they need is assistant coaches they can trust, rely on and have faith in. We have to be on the same page and yet have independent views and be able to challenge each other in our decision making. In this role I think we have a lot of say and input which Dean encourages, which is okay from my point of view.”

So how does that ‘challenging’ play out, what sort of conversations do the coaching team have amongst themselves?

“Dean is open to communication about any basketball-related information, he will challenge me and I will challenge him. Before we take our scout reports or tactics to the team, Dean, Judd (the other assistant coach Judd Flavell) and I will discuss it, throw it around, challenge each other and then go with an approach that is clear and concise to the players. We have those discussions, present the issues and come up with solutions.

"We have those conversations during the year and on game nights – before we head into the dressing room at halftime we will talk things through as a coaching staff so our messages are clear and consistent. Dean has the ultimate say but it is not often that we are poles apart, it is often just a fine-tuning of our thoughts, by doing that it becomes much clearer for all of us in what we are trying to achieve.”

Henare is very much hands on with the players throughout the season.

“Judd and I actually spend a lot of time during the season as head coach of a practice team. I have the starters and Judd has the bench players in all scrimmages throughout the season so in effect we are given that latitude in training to be very much hands-on and coaching while Dean is able to step back and have that overview, watching how it unfolds, he has set the path and the template, we carry it out every day. This enables us to build those relationships with players and be in constant contact and communication with them.”

Henare is an advocate of learning through experiencing the challenges and the highs and lows that sport brings every day, empowering the players with responsibility as well as the coaches. He prefers this to studying for any badge or paper qualification.

“When I moved into coaching I briefly took a look at the level 1 and 2 coaching qualifications that were available but I preferred to lean on my lifetime in the game and the experience I have picked up as a sponge on every role I have had, as a player and for the past few years as an assistant and head coach.

"At this stage, I see nothing better than learning from the head coaches I am working with and the environments I work in – that means everyone around me, coaches, players, management and mentors that I talk to from time to time. That is my ongoing education in basketball.”

Henare says there is a clear line between the head coach and assistant coach mentality, he experiences it when he moves between roles.

“As an assistant coach you contribute, you challenge, you tweak a system and a style of game that is owned by the head coach. You are just as committed but there is another guy next to you calling the shots. As a head coach though you have ultimate responsibility and you can write that blueprint and lead others. I try and take that same level of detail and planning into my head coach role at the Sharks as I see here at the Breakers, albeit with less resource and often a larger workload as a consequence.”