It's 1989 and Chuck Harmison and Norman Taylor, among a group of Illawarra Hawks players, are taking stock of a season where they missed the NBL playoffs, in Singapore of all places.
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They'd just lost their last game in Perth - Taylor would be awarded the club MVP in his first of three remarkable years playing in Wollongong - but the Qantas pilot strike meant their only way home was to fly overseas and wait for the connecting flight to Sydney.
Harmison, a legend of the Hawks and the NBL, can clearly remember the sweat profusely running off Taylor's bald head in the oppressive heat and humidity, as they enjoyed satay sticks and Tiger beers.
On Sunday, the memory seemed extra special to a shell-shocked Harmison, after learning of Taylor's sudden passing at the age of 55.
Taylor holds the Illawarra club record for most points in a game with 54, against new Hawks coach Brian Goorjian's Eastside Spectres in 1990.
He finished with three MVP awards, scoring 1855 in just 67 games, as well as an average of 27.69 points at the phenomenal shooting percentage of 65, plus 10.57 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
Leaving a last legacy - he was included in the Mercury's 12 best Hawks of all time in the 40th anniversary celebrations - Taylor went on to run a successful chicken shop and work for Qantas.
"I remember he came out here as this kind of under-sized big man," Harmison said.
"And I'm there at practice with three or four inches on him, thinking I can block his shot, but he was just one of the strongest human beings I came across.
"He had a big body and super quick feet and you just couldn't get up fast enough to stop him.
"His record speaks for itself, he was an amazing player and will always be one of the great Hawks players.
"But he was also a gentle, good-natured guy to be around as a teammate and friend and I can't quite believe it."
It was Hawks coach David Lindstrom who discovered Norman, from the University of Bridgeport in Conneticut, a relatively obscure import signing which proved a scouting masterstroke.