Basketball: Port Macquarie Dolphins coach Mark Champion says a win is around the corner

Port Macquarie Dolphins can vouch for that and while their season has started with three-straight losses, coach Mark Champion knows it will all be worth it.

"For us, it's still a journey," he said.

"In two of the three games so far we had genuine opportunities to win and we just have to work through that."

Last year they were rarely in a position to win a single game, but if you put yourself in that situation often enough, something will break your way.

"Once they get in that situation where they have the experience of winning and they believe in those tight games they can win I think things will start to turn around for us," Champion said.

The Dolphins three losses so far have been by a combined total of 14 points and last weekend's four-point loss to Manly could also have been different.

"We were down by two with 12 seconds to go, we got the ball and in the rush to get it down the court we turned it over and that's how they ended up winning by four," the coach said.

"It was a bit frantic, but it's about getting used to what it takes to win."

There are two ways to look at what the Dolphins have - or haven't - done this season.

You can look at where they are not yet, but where they would like to be or you can look at where they've come and how far they've come.

"It's part of their development and yes there are things we need to get a bit better at and yes it does feel a bit like Groundhog Day," Champion said.

"But the reality is if you step back, we've made a lot of progress and there's no reason to believe we won't keep making progress.

"There's no reason to think we're going to get stuck at this plateau because we didn't get stuck at any of the other plateaus, we got better."

Port Macquarie have another chance to claim their first win of the Waratah State League division one men's season on Saturday night when they host Central Coast Waves.

If they keep on making the progress that has seen them have a genuine chance at winning two of their three matches, that win won't be far away.

"We're making progress, it's obvious to me and we haven't turned it into wins yet, but we've lost three games by 14 points," Champion said.

There were less than a handful of games the Dolphins thought they could win last season and there is little doubt that had changed after their first three matches.

"This year they're turning up to every game thinking they're a chance to win and you can't blame them for thinking that looking at the results," Champion said.

Saturday's match tips off at 7pm at the Port Macquarie Indoor Stadium.

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox from the Port Macquarie News. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, SIGN UP HERE.