Chinese megastar Han Xu and Ryan Petrik only met in person on Tuesday, but the boom WNBL recruit and Perth Lynx coach have been plotting their partnership online for weeks.
Xu will debut against Canberra in the nation's capital on Saturday night and while she steps into the side six rounds into the season, her initiation has been meticulously planned by a club that hopes her sizeable addition will help it win its second-ever championship.
Every Thursday night, the 210cm centre would log on to a Teams call. It would be around 7pm with no time difference separating China and Western Australia. Petrik would put his two young daughters to bed then join. Xu's agent, Melbourne-based Allen Lian would be on it too and sometimes fellow agent and Xu's translator, Cindy Chen.
"The calls have been very helpful because I've had national games before I came to Australia but I'm also a Perth Lynx player, so I need to learn the plays and start learning before I came here," Xu told ESPN.
"I've watched some film and Perth Lynx are a strong team but we still need to learn how to play more together."
Petrik adds: "We'd do it a little differently each time. Sometimes we'd show Han the review from the last game, the further on we got, I presented our playbook offensively and defensively so she knew what we were chasing."
Petrik and Perth have landed big fish in recent years. Jackie Young, a three-time WNBA champion and Olympic gold medallist, Marina Mabrey and Aari McDonald but this acquisition is different in player, stature and skill set, and situation, with Han missing the first eight games.
Their first languages might be different, but player and coach both speak the one that matters.
"Han understands most of it for 20 minutes and then I speak too quickly, next thing the conversation dies, someone jumps in and starts speaking Chinse and 30 seconds later we're all back and happy again," Petrik says.
"The beauty with Han was that she was picking up things from the film before I even said it. One of the very first things she pointed out was of vision from our first game, as I was showing her something else she said 'That player there cut too early.'
"I'm like 'Damn! Not only are you a million percent right, you were 10 seconds in front of me getting to it.'
"She might not understand English that well but she understands basketball. I'm a heavy x's and o's coach, I draw a lot and diagram a lot so hopefully the language of basketball is enough to overcome it all.
"I've coached players who speak beautiful English that don't really understand basketball, so if she understands basketball, I'll take that every day of the week."
Perth's only title came in 1992 with Michele Timms and Robyn Maher its biggest stars.
Since Petrik took the reins in the 2020 hub season, he's taken the Lynx to finals in all but his first campaign and to two Grand Final series. High octane, offensive minded and entertaining, some of Australia's best talent has donned the red uniform alongside stud imports.
Xu is figuratively and literally the biggest yet.
At just 26, she's a dual Olympian, FIBA World Cup silver medallist in Sydney (2022) and Asia Cup gold medallist and MVP in Australia 12 months on.
Her recruitment will give Perth its best crack at a title yet and she knows it.
"We're ready for the second one (championship)," Xu laughs.
"Perth showed me a lot of love especially Chris (General Manager Chris Earl) and Ryan, they are a very strong team and I really want to win a championship and this is why I chose Perth.
"This is my lucky place, I love Australia and I have played well here with the Chinese national team."
The Lynx have played eight games, for five wins, before Xu's arrival and have done so with her short-term replacement, WNBA and WNBL journeywoman Brianna Turner.
Turner played the selfless role of Xu's understudy which has allowed the players to start to prepare and adjust to what life will be like with a towering presence, and unique game to match, inside.
"We don't have a pre-season with Han, she gets here and plays straight away so it was 'Let's build this thing for Han from day one and put Turner in it'," Petrik explains.
"It might be clunky and it might be weird but our first nine girls hadn't played with a big focus before so they're going to take time to adjust anyway.
"We've been ugly as heck on offence but all we see is 5-3 running a Han system."
While fulfilling commitments back home, Xu has followed Perth's start and likes the roster she's joining.
"I've seen my teammates, they are very aggressive, they play very aggressive and now I've joined the team we need some time to learn how to play with each other," she says.
"There's lots of shooters. I shoot some threes sometimes, of course I love to."
Xu is a cult figure on home soil and in World then Asia Cups in Sydney, Chinese fans packed out arenas to support their country and superstar and waited outside the team hotel in big numbers.
Tickets are selling fast for Perth's home games, starting with Xu's first on December 5. It's against the Southside Flyers who know all the benefits of a drawcard. In her 2022-2024 stint with the Flyers, Australia's greatest ever basketballer Lauren Jackson drew a crowd not only at home games but in each away fixture from Bendigo to Townsville and every stadium in between. Post game, a table and chair would be set up and a lengthy line would form with Jackson signing every autograph and smiling for every photo.
The Han Xu show is about to begin and while it's too early to say whether the ending will be a fairytale championship it's guaranteed to be a box office hit drawing eyeballs from around the globe.
"The Chinese fans mean a lot to me, we are a big family and thanks to all the Chinese fans and Australian fans who support me," Xu said.
"I'm looking forward to playing for them and meeting them all."
Let the show begin.
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