Good Vibrations: White, Grida, Naar, and the development of the Hawks beach boys

Ask any athlete, and they’ll tell you the key to playing together on the court is making connections off it. For the Hawks young core, this season has been as much about becoming closer as a group as it has about chasing wins. There are endless ways for a team to strengthen its camaraderie, but according to Dan Grida, he, Emmett Naar and Isaac White think they’ve worked out the best way to build chemistry.

“I've been going to the beach, that's basically what us three do, every arvo we hit the beach, it's the highlight of our day," Grida said.

For Naar and Grida - their connection has been building since their first season in the NBL in 2018. Naar and Grida were brought in together and their friendship immediately flourished, sharing time together on the court and living together off it. Both players are back living together this season, both claiming to be able to endure the others annoying habits.

“Me and Grida roomed together our first year here, so I think we’re pretty used to it,” Naar said. Grida agrees.

“We’re pretty used to it by now, we room together on the road a heap,” Grida said. 

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Isaac White has been a newer addition to the group but has fit right in to a squad that he says is one of the most positive team environments he has experienced. 

“It's been my first preseason, I can speak on the enjoyable nature of the group, like the day to day stuff, there’s a lot of games left to play, I think we can build something late in the season,” White said. 

“We have a young group, like a young core, so it makes it easier to relate to dudes and stuff like that, we don't really have any assholes on the team.

“It has been pretty easy, I knew a couple of these guys before coming here which made it a bit easier, I knew [Sam Froling], played against him before, and I played against Grida, we beat him at under 20 nationals,” White said. 

Isaac White's efficient shooting season | Photo: spatialjam.com

Evidently, this group is not afraid to poke fun at each other, but it is also clear they have a strong affinity for each other. With Naar missing tonight’s game against the S.E. Melbourne Phoenix due to concussion protocol, White was confident in what he meant to the team's success. 

“I think [we’ll miss] a solid backup one, I think he's shown lately that he can really control our team and stuff like that, so missing that option will probably hurt a bit,” White said. 

Naar will also miss Sunday’s clash with Cairns, as he undergoes a five day protocol which has frustrated the player. 

“I'm just progressing as usual, I feel fine, but there's the protocols we’ve got to go through, I'm in day one of that but everything is going well,” Naar said. 

“It's just gradually moving up each day, from light running to more intense cardio, back on court doing stuff, I've just got to check the box that the symptoms don't persist or get worse.

“It’s more frustrating than a typical injury because I feel fine, I feel like I could go out there and play, but you don't want to mess with the brain, I understand why the protocols are in place,” Naar said.   

Both Naar and White have also been highly supportive of Grida, who is back in the lineup after missing extended time due to an ACL injury. 

“I think [Dan] showed last game that he can pick up the ball, 94 feet, and just be another aggressive body on the offensive end,” White said.

“It's good to have someone who can bank put back dunks again as well, we've been missing them,” Naar said.

This energy from Grida will be key in their game against the Phoenix, with the scars still fresh from their 32 point defeat.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@illawarrahawks</a> led 46-45 with 5:25 to go in Q3. That’s a 50-17 run by <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SEMelbPhoenix</a> in basically 15 mins of game time. Wow. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a></p>&mdash; Tom Hersz (@tomhersz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomhersz/status/1377563606703697925?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Hawks have never won against Phoenix, but Dan Grida thinks that now is the time to break that curse. 

“We would like to get the monkey off our back, what are we, 7-0 against them, so it'll be good to get them on the board our way,” Grida said. 

While Emmett Naar is not playing, he is still acutely aware of what is needed from his team. 

“[The key to beating SEM] is just stopping them offensively, they like to move the ball, shoot a lot of threes, so if we can limit their ball movement and force them to go inside the three point line that would be huge,” Naar said. 

A championship. A dynasty. Jerseys hanging in the rafters. This is the ultimate goal of this tight knit band of brothers. But the most pressing concern? Getting more put back dunks from Dan Grida. And he’s only too happy to oblige. 

“Yeah, I’ll try to get another one of them”