It was the calm before the storm.
Yesterday's laid-back atmosphere around the streets of Perth will be superseded by frenzied fanaticism as tip-off approaches for tonight's opening grand final stoush with the Wollongong Hawks at Challenge Stadium.
Wildcats supporters are among the rowdiest in the NBL and are unrelenting in their heckling of the visiting team.
For a city obsessed with AFL, Perth have done a fair job building a strong basketball fan base in the west since entering the competition in 1982.
Maybe that staunch following has something to do with the fact the club has won four NBL titles and is tipped by bookmakers to chalk up their fifth championship at Wollongong's expense.
But the Hawks are quietly confident of springing an upset on the Cats' home court and heading home with a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
That scenario is a very real possibility in the eyes of Perth taxi driver Roger, an eloquent and amusing character who preferred not to give his surname.
While most Perth dwellers presumably get behind their national sporting ambassadors, apparently there are plenty who reckon Perth teams have a habit of choking on the big stage.
"We're no good at footy (AFL), our soccer team isn't much good, and the basketball boys will find a way to lose this,'' Roger said, much to the surprise of his Wollongong passengers.
"Perth are good front-runners in most things we do, but I'm not sure how much of this we have (tapping a finger over his heart).
"Perth's got a good social life, good wine and beautiful women. What we're not good at is competing and winning.
"Good luck to your boys, I hope they win.''
Roger must have forgotten about the Wildcats' four titles and the West Coast Eagles' 2006 premiership triumph.
Yet he was convinced Wollongong couldn't lose.
The Hawks don't have to look far for inspiration tonight.
Captain Mat Campbell and his long-time partner-in-crime Glen Saville were part of the 2001 Hawks side that beat the Wildcats in Perth in a deciding game three of a first-round play-off series.
Perhaps even more inspiring was the Wollongong Wolves' thrilling away victory over the Perth Glory in the 2000 NSL grand final after the visitors had fallen behind 3-0.
Forget about the Hawks scraping together just three wins from 15 road games in 2009-10.
If they can steal tonight's game, they will be in a position to clinch the club's second championship in 32 seasons on their home court next Tuesday.
"It's been really hard to win on the road this year for every team and our record doesn't look that good on the road, but it wasn't as bad as it looked because we competed in 75 to 80 per cent of those games,'' Wollongong coach Gordie McLeod said at yesterday's pre-game press conference.
After coming back from the dead 12 months ago, the Hawks are already winners in the eyes of the Illawarra community.
A championship would be the icing on the cake.
"This is what you play the whole season for and we've worked hard all year to be in this situation,'' Campbell said.
"These were the best two teams in the comp and now it's time to get down to business.''
See tomorrow's Mercury for player posters
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