Hawkeye - Illawarra Hawks v Adelaide 36ers R8 Preview

THE MUST KNOWS 

When: 7:30pm, Thursday 4 March

Where: State Basketball Centre, Melbourne

Broadcast: ESPN, SBS On Demand and Twitch

Last Time They Met: Adelaide 102 (Drmic 24, Johnson 22, Randle 19) defeated Illawarra 96 (Blanchfield 35, Dech 16, Boone 14), Round 14, January 6, 2020

THE PRELUDE

The term 'must win game' couldn't be more pertinent as the Hawks and 36ers do battle at the State Basketball Centre in Melbourne - with both teams locked on six wins and probably at their lowest ebb so far this NBL season.

Illawarra enter the game having lost back-to-back contests to Brisbane and SE Melbourne over the weekend, while Adelaide was blown off the court by the hapless NZ Breakers to the tune of 44-points in their last start.

It will be the first time these two teams will meet this season but both sides come into this one having lost five of their past seven games. 

Slow starts have plagued the Hawks this season - the side only finding itself in front at quarter time once in the past seven games. Playing from behind has certainly taken it's toll on some of the starters - with sharpshooters Tyler Harvey (32) and Justinian Jessup (31) logging some of the most minutes in the league as they have tried to drag Illawarra back into games.

Scoring in general has caused the 36ers trouble, with Adelaide averaging a league low 82.8ppg after scoring just 62 and 73 in their past two games.

36ers big man Isaac Humphries was ruled out earlier this week for over a month and will leave a huge hole in an already stretched Adelaide lineup. He was leading the league in blocked shots at 3.3 per game and was averaging 16.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game leading into the Breakers fixture.

Big man Jack Purchase in expected to play his first game for the 36ers after signing as a injury replacement for Humphries. 

THE FUN FACTS

In their four NBL Cup games, Illawarra has been to the free-throw line 48 times in total but sent their opposition there 96 times. The total number of fouls called against the Hawks is 71, with 56 called against their opposition.

Tyler Harvey (20.7) and Justinian Jessup (15.7) have combined for an average of 36.4 points per night - but last game against the Phoenix scored a combined low in a game of just 21 points (Harvey 14, Jessup 7).

The magic number of 85 remains for the 36ers. When they score 85 points or above they are a perfect six wins from six attempts - and when they score less than 85 they have not won (seven defeats).

Purchase and Giddey playing together will please their fathers Nigel and Warrick who were teammates at the Melbourne Tigers between 1989. Their final game together was Game 3 of the 1992 Championship loss to the Magic who were coached by Brian Goorjian – their first opposition coach with their sons as team-mates.

Conner Henry made his NBL coaching debut in September 2008 with the Perth Wildcats and was given the task of starting with a home-and-away game against the South Dragons and their new head coach Brian Goorjian. 

THE MATCH UP

Tyler Harvey v Josh Giddey

It'll be a marquee matchup of almost NBA quality when Harvey and Giddey lock horns at the State Basketball Centre on Thursday night. Both have shone throughout #NBL21 so far, with Harvey averaging a tick over 20 point a game and a couple of assists - while Giddey has played more of a distributors role than Harvey with over five dimes per contest to go with a shade under 10 points a match. In his past 60 minutes of game time though, Giddey has only recorded one assist.

Both men would no doubt have caught the eye of NBA scouts in the first two months of the season as they helped their respective teams to winning records -  but both have also been heavily targeted in recent games as teams try and quell their almighty influence.

Harvey has been forced to work extra hard just to get his hands on the ball as teams aggressively full court press, with defences also limiting his opportunites to fire at will from deep. Giddey on the other hand is now without his main interior threat in Humphries and has found the going a little tougher as teams send extra numbers his way in an effort to force him to give up the ball. Minus Humphries, there will be more pressure on Giddey to be a scorer if Adelaide is going to keep pace with the Hawks.

THE SPOTLIGHT

Cam Bairstow - since an ankle injury forced him to miss time earlier in the season, the man they call 'The Bear' has seemingly embraced his newfound bench role as he works his way back into Coach Goorjian's rotation.

A walking double double at his best (averaging 11.6 points and seven boards so far this season), Bairstow has provided some much needed energy and scoring punch to a second unit seemingly running a little low on confidence at the moment. His experience and maturity has even earned him clutch minutes down the stretch of the Hawks last couple of games as Goorjian continues to search for the right set of combinations.

Bairstow won't have to tend with the most ferocious force in the NBL (Humphries) on Thursday, but Daniel Johnson is an adversary Bairstow can probably associate with. Both men are consumate professionals, both have been tipping in buckets for what seems like an eternity and both offer a savvy mind and calming effect when the game is on the line. A must-watch battle inside awaits us.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&#39;The Bear&#39; <a href="https://twitter.com/cambairstow41?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cambairstow41</a> caught up with <a href="https://twitter.com/ThatJimmySmith?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ThatJimmySmith</a> to discuss Hawks basketball, his NBA experience and the master coach Brian Goorjian.<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/kWqwX33KHO">https://t.co/kWqwX33KHO</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1364392686191407106?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

THE QUOTES

Deng Adel on how the Hawks can turn their form around...

Defence is how we established our early wins. We just need to get our swagger back and hopefully turn that around. Right now we need to pick up our energy, we kind of used that excuse [a packed fixture] a bit but everyone has the same schedule. We just need to come together as a team and for me and Justin [Simon] we need to pick the ball up a bit higher in the court and take some presure off the other guys handling the ball a lot [Harvey and Jessup].

On his starting role and sharing the three spot with Justin Simon...

Me and Justin are interchangeable. We still play roughly the same amount of minutes over the course and I'm getting more comfortable out there. I'm getting used to how things are called and the flow of the game. It's a different brand so it's been good trying to figure that out and I'm feeling a little bit better on the offensive end now. I'm just working on playing in the flow of the game, not trying to be over aggressive, just trying to work out who's hot or not and trying to find ways I can help the team.

Justin Simon on the matchup with Adelaide...

I like our chances going into any game. It's unfortunate they are missing one of their key guys [Humphries] but this is a must win. We need to get out there and put our best foot forward, focus on the plans, execute and get the W (win). We need to get that grit and will back, try and limit teams to one possession and that's a trickle down effect. Teams are adjusting to us and we need to figure it out, work out what's hurting us and sticking with what's helping us. Adelaide has a strong post presence. Josh Giddey's a great point guard, their spacing of the floor is great. They're a hungry desperate team and they're gonna get after that.

On the team learning from late game blunders...

Goorj has been giving us scenarios and mindsets to have when we get in those type of situations where the game is on the line. We have dropped a few close ones and of course we want to win every game - but it's about learning from these situations and improving. At the end of the day, Goorj will always hit us up on the video and on the court about how to improve those areas of our game.