THERE have been times this season when Gold Coast Blaze coach Joey Wright has been so ashamed of his players he hasn't been able to look them in the eye.

Those days are gone.

Wright now exudes the confidence that, whether the Blaze win or lose, he can be proud of the brand of basketball his team is playing.

In the past the championship-winning coach has made the pre-game drive from his Gold Coast home to the Blaze's match venue at the Convention Centre with plenty of apprehension.

The pressure of coming out with a win is a weight the former NBL Coach of the Year and championship winner is happy to bear.

Not knowing whether he could be proud of the way his team played was becoming a burden.

The Blaze have turned that around in the past month and head into this week's clash in Sydney on the back of a four-game winning streak.

A win on Friday will equal a club record for most wins in a row. 

"I drove to the stadium ahead of the Wollongong game with a whole different set of anxieties that I've ever had before a Blaze game," Wright said of last weekend's game against the Hawks.

"I drove to that game feeling like I could be proud of the way we played.

"Sometimes, I drive to that stadium and I don't know if I can be proud of the way we've played. And I'm flying to Sydney (this week) with that same comfort zone.''

Things seem to have finally fallen into place for the Blaze, who have become a coherent unit with an intense defensive focus.

They will fly to Sydney with excitement machine Chris Goulding on board after he trained strongly yesterday in his rapid recovery from ligament damage to both knee and ankle.

The 23-year-old will train with the group during the week and will suit up, providing there are no hiccups.

According to their current form is the way the Blaze had always intended to play but it took some time for the pieces to fall into place.

A loss to the Kings in Sydney that came about through a lack of effort sparked intense introspection for the Blaze.

Another loss followed in Perth but it brought out a side seen rarely in the intensely competitive Wright.

He will never be happy with a loss. But Wright can be content with the result if his team executes to the best of its ability.

"I called my wife after the Perth game and said: 'We did OK. I'm OK with that'.

"She said she'd never heard me say anything positive after a loss. But I was OK with that. We lost that ball game but we played it the way we should have played.

The Blaze's renaissance comes full circle this week when they meet the Kings in Sydney.

But Wright insists the Blaze are not out for revenge.

"It's not payback ... we can play the way we've been playing and still lose the ball game," he said.

"We're not guaranteed to beat Sydney, I just want to go down there and play the way we've been playing."