The former Olympic coach has been in frequent communication with his players, some of which have struggled with the disruption to their livelihood. He said for the moment, basketball has been a secondary concern.

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"We had a zoom meeting a couple of weeks ago to check in on the mental health of everybody. It's been up and down for different players, especially given this is their livelihood," he said.

"It's impacted us all in a negative way but we're moving forward now and everyone is pretty excited for next year."

Miners player Zac Dunmore has benefited from the online sessions, having had to move back to his hometown of Ararat to wait out the pandemic. With nothing but a chair to play against, he said staying in contact with the team had been a big help.

"Every basketball player is itching to get back on the court, we've had a couple of chats over zoom, which everyone needed, and to see faces over zoom was really good," he said.

"It' s been challenging but those things help a lot."

Dunmore has used the extend layoff to rehab a stress fracture in his foot. He also also has access to an outdoor court to stay in shape.