Adel hits form as Hawks dismantle 36ers in NBL Cup

The Result

Illawarra Hawks 98  - Adelaide 36ers 89

The Story

It was a return to the winners circle for the Illawarra Hawks as they overcame another sluggish start to overpower the Adelaide 36ers 98-89 in Melbourne on Thursday night.

The 36ers kicked out to an early 10-3 lead courtesy of former Hawk Sunday Dech who nailed an early three to remind the Illawarra fans what they are missing out on this season.

Hawks captain AJ Ogilvy found himself in big foul trouble early, picking up his third personal inside the first three minutes of action - his exit leading to the earlier than planned introduction of Cam Bairstow. 

Deng Adel started the game on the bench after some up-and-down performances, but once he entered the fray tonight, it was a far more aggressive version of the much-maligned star. Adel having six first-quarter points.

Buckets from Bairstow, Deng Deng and Bairstow again kept the Hawks in the hunt at quarter time - the 36ers leading 26-21 at the first break.

The second quarter started well for the Hawks, Sam Froling and Tyler Harvey landing blows as the Hawks started to find a rhythm, Emmett Naar started the second quarter in a different look for Brian Goorjian - with Naar's ball handling ability taking a bit of pressure off the heavily-guarded Harvey and Next Star Justinian Jessup.

The plan seemed to work, Jessup earning himself a few open looks to pull the Hawks within five midway through the term. Isaac White hit the court in an even smaller lineup as Goorjian worked to stretch the Adelaide defence - White answering the call and dropping this trademark bomb from the corner.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Stroke feat. <a href="https://twitter.com/IsaacLewisWhite?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IsaacLewisWhite</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/4bZjGmIEvQ">pic.twitter.com/4bZjGmIEvQ</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1367404249739526145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

An offensive rebound from Justin Simon earned the Hawks the lead late in the frame - Simon converting the AND-1 as the Hawks started to get on top. A heads up play from Harvey earning him three free-throws down the stretch of the opening half, as the Hawks cut the 36ers lead to two at the main break.

The Hawks came out firing in the second stanza with a 10-4 start led by that man again, Tyler Harvey. An intentional Adelaide foul saw Justin Simon drop a pair of free-throw to extend the Hawks lead to four - with both Simon and Bairstow pulling down offensive boards as the Hawks piled on the pressure against their undermanned opponents. 

Sam Froling sprung to life in the third, draining a pair of free-throws after being fouled on a drive to the basket, before adding another four points - as Adelaide phenom Josh Giddey started getting busy as well.

Adelaide's Dech was having a nightmare of a time trying to guard Jessup and Harvey - as both men found room to move and air to shoot into as the Hawks won the third quarter - a fortunate late bucket from Adelaide the only reason the scores were tied after three.

A 9-0 offensive explosion from the Hawks handed them the lead early in the fourth as Bairstow, Simon and Adel all landed big blows - the 36ers struggling to stay in touch. Adel finding himself wide open again as he pushed into double figures with another long three.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Respect this man <a href="https://twitter.com/Foreverdeng?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Foreverdeng</a> ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/69Ddn5Ht6X">pic.twitter.com/69Ddn5Ht6X</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1367418099117346819?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Bairstow kept tipping them in on his way 14-points for the game - but it was Adel who kept twisting the knife in his best game of the season on the way to a season-high 19.

Harvey turned distributor in the final quarter as he accumulated six dimes - with the Hawks not making a substitution for the entire final quarter as they strode away for a deserved 9-point win.

The Stats

The 36ers led the league in turnovers heading into this one but managed to get through the first without giving the ball up at all. They ended the game with six turnovers but it was the Hawks who failed to take care of the ball - handing it over 13 times in total.

The Hawks shot the ball extremely well - 50% from the field and 48% from deep. They also headed to the foul line on 18 occasions after Goorjian made a point of addressing their lack of fouls in the loss to the Phoenix on Sunday.

The 36ers lost their edge inside without star centre Isaac Humphries - losing the rebound count 44-29.

Harvey became the first Hawks player to have six three's in a game this season on his way to a game-high 24 points. He also had six assists and two steals.

Adel busted out for his best game of the year to the tune of 19 points, eight rebound, five assists and a steal on 66% shooting.

Bairstow contnued his impressive month with 14-points, seven boards and a block - while Froling tallied eight points and six rebounds. 

Simon also filled up the stat sheet with 13 points, nine rebounds and a steal.

The Fallout

Obviously coach was preaching defensive rebounding the whole game and that was gonna be a battle. I think DA [Deng Adel] and Justin [Simon] got some tough stops and some really tough rebounds...those huge stops gave us opportunities to run and we had a good little scoring burst at the begining of the quarter that got us a lead and we just kind of grinded it out from there," Next Star Justinian Jessup said.

It was great to see that he [Deng Adel] was in a rhythm in that last quarter. Those pick and rolls, they were really trapping Tyler [Harvey] and he was able to find DA in the corner. He got some transition buckets and shots were falling for him, I was really happy for him," Jessup said.

It's getting tough, there's no doubt. You look at these teams out here and it's been a long time [on the road]. Albury Wodonga, Cairns, no complaints, I've always said it's been a strength being together but it's getting nasty. We've lost some close ones and then we got pounded a little bit...so tonight was desperation. We were desperate and I coached desperate," Coach Brian Goorjian said.

"That free throw count was even tonight which was big for us. We've been hurting ourselves with fouling and putting them on the line. I do think the teams are scouting and they are waiting and they're [Jessup and Harvey] being targeted. Now we're penalising teams for how they're playing Tyler and Justinian," Goorjian said.

"We did talk and talked about getting to the rim, getting on the foul line and getting on the glass and if he [Adel] does those things there won't be as much pressure on the shot. That really loosened up, now you've got some points and you've got some stuff in the bank, so when you take that three in the corner there's not as much pressure. Really happy for him," Goorjian said.

"It's hard for me to do that, guys like Justinian and Tyler love ball and want to play. Usually they're toally excited about that, they like to practice and they do a great job at practice. I just felt now, as of about a week ago, rest is our friend. I do think trying ot get them as fresh as you possibly can helps. It certainly helped tonight with those guys playing the whole last quarter," Goorjian said.

The Road Ahead

Round 8 NBL Cup – Sunday 7 March at 2:30pm v Perth Wildcats @ John Cain Arena, Melbourne

The Hawks will take on the only undefeated team in the NBL Cup on Sunday when they face defending champions - the Perth Wildcats.

The Wildcats had been written off by a lot of NBL observers earlier this year after a sluggish start had them sitting at 2-3 through five games. They've since rattled off four straight wins - riding the coat tails of the masterful Bryce Cotton - as the hottest team in the NBL.

The Hawks split two games with the Wildcats in a preseason trip to Perth and the fixture is sure to be highlighted by the matchup between Cotton and the so-called 'Cotton Stopper' Justin Simon.