HE'S endured two frustrating years with injury but Hawks veteran AJ Ogilvy says he's in the best shape he's been in since first arriving in Wollongong five seasons ago.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It will be music to the ears of those who watched his first season with the Hawks, one that saw him enter the league MVP discussion and establish himself as the NBL's premier big man.
He grabbed his third straight All-NBL First-Team selection the following season but chronic hip and ankle injuries have slowed his progress the past two campaigns.
It's seen him attract criticism in some quarters but, now fully healthy, he's adamant he can recapture the form that put him amongst the league's best bigs.
"I definitely feel it's something I can get back to," he said.
"I've never really worried about what other people are thinking, doing or saying, I just worry about my own prep and I've had a really good preparation.
"Nothing's perfect and things are going to happen during the season but I just want to put myself in the best position I can.
"Going into this season I'm probably in the best shape I've been in in a long while so hopefully the body holds up and things keep going as it should.
"I feel like I'm playing pretty good basketball now so I'm looking forward to getting out there and proving some people wrong."
The run with injury has been due in no small part to almost single-handedly carrying the can inside over the last four seasons, something that took an inevitable toll on his body.
The return of evergreen Dave Andersen went some way to easing the burden last season, but the Hawks are positively stacked with inside presence this season with the addition of import Josh Boone and NBA draft aspirant Sam Froling.
It's a roster Hawks GM Mat Campbell is happy to call the tallest in the club's history and Ogilvy said he's more than happy to be part of a broader inside arsenal.
"Having played against Josh for a couple of years it's great to have him on our team instead of having to bang against him," Ogilvy said.
"We'll be able to spread the workload out a bit, have some guys in there who were willing to bang and rebound and guys like Dave and Sam who can spread the floor.
"Timmy [Coenraad's] also coming off a great year after switching to the four spot there so it's just going to be a case of whoever's night it is will play."
It's a team Ogilvy feels is capable of going one step further than he one that reached the grand final series two years ago only to be swept by Perth.
"Everyone has that burning desire to win a championship and unfinished business is probably the right term," he said.
"We've had a big turnover this year, we've brought in some vets, some rookies and it's a very talented group, probably the most talented we've had here.
"There's some good teams out there, but I'm really excited about this group."