Hawkeye - Illawarra Hawks v Brisbane Bullets R11 Preview

THE MUST KNOWS 

When: 7:30pm ADST, Monday 29 March

Where: WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong

Broadcast: ESPN, SBS On Demand and Twitch

Last Time They Met: Brisbane 97 (Law 29, Sobey 18, Hodgson 12) defeated Illawarra 91 (Jessup 26, Harvey 15, Froling 13), Round 7, February 26 2021

THE PRELUDE

These teams enter tonight's contest with identical records of nine wins and eight losses through 17 NBL games and teeter on the edge of a playoff position as we head towards the halfway point of the season.

A win to the Hawks will see them jump to third on the ladder, while a Bullets victory could see them land in fourth spot - or third if it's by a healthy margin. The losing team will fall to sixth on the ladder.

It's been a wild 72 hours for the NBL ladder.

On Friday afternoon Illawarra was fourth before losing to the Wildcats and dropping down to sixth. Brisbane slid into the four then lost to the Breakers on Saturday, before Sydney took their spot - then fell to the Wildcats yesterday. Now Illawarra finds themselves back in fourth place heading into tonight and the Hawks are intent on staying there.

Remarkably this is the Hawks 18th game of the season and just the side's second back at the WIN Entertainment Centre. The side last playing at home 47 days ago in round five when they lost 88-91 to Melbourne United.

Brisbane have won their last three games played in Wollongong and the franchise is playing their 1,000^th NBL game tonight.

Most games in the NBL:
1240 – Perth Wildcats
1221 – Illawarra Hawks
1188 – Adelaide 36ers
999 – Brisbane Bullets
957 – Sydney Kings
956 – Melbourne Tigers

This game also starts a run of five home games out of their next six games for the Hawks.

THE FUN FACTS

Past meetings:
Round 1 at Nissan Arena: Hawks 90 def Bullets 84
Round 2 at Nissan Arena: Hawks 90 def Bullets 82
Round 7 at John Cain Arena: Bullets 97 def Hawks 91

All three games between these teams so far have been decided between six and eight points. 

Illawarra have lost their past two games to the top two teams on the ladder and both were on the road. By 10 at Melbourne United and by 11 at Perth.

The Hawks have lost their past two games for the third time this year but won the next game both previous times.

The last time Brian Goorjian coached three straight losses in the regular season was December 2002.

Brisbane have lost two of their last three games following Saturday’s overtime loss to the Breakers where they had just 69-points after 40-minutes which would have been their lowest score of the season. Their shooting percentage was their lowest however at 32.2% despite taking a season high 90 field goal attempts.

32.2% was the worst field goal shooting from the Bullets in the last five seasons that Andrej Lemanis has been coach.

Brian Goorjian and Andrej Lemanis are the only two coaches that have three-peated but the head to head numbers are not that even. They have coached against each other 15 times with Goorjian winning twelve and Lemanis just three.

The Hawks were leading the NBL in three-point shooting at the NBL Cup but have mis-fired in their last two games shooting 5-from-25 at United (20%) and 4-from-24 in Perth (16.7%)

THE MATCH UP

Tyler Harvey v Nathan Sobey - it's a marquee matchup between two MVP candidates that fans will be salivating over from go to wo tonight.

Harvey and Sobey are the leading scorers for their respective squads heading into this clash the WIN Entertainment Centre - Harvey tipping in 19.6 points per game while Sobey is dropping 23.5 per contest. Neither is shy to let it fly from deep either, with the pair connecting on 53 (Harvey) and 56 (Sobey) three's respectively so far this season. Sobey managing to shoot at a better clip so far sas well (41% to 37%).

Sobey is slightly ahead of Harvey when it comes to sharing the ball around as well, the Bullets main man handing out 4.1 assists per game so far this season, while Harvey has managed 2.8 dimes a game through 17 starts.

Sobey has averaged 20.3 points in three games agains the Hawks this season. In his last two games, Harvey is 2-from-16 from threes (12.5%) after going 51-from-126 threes (40.5%) over the first 15 games.

The diminutive guards haven't missed a game either in 2021 - and one has a feeling whoever lands the most blows out of these two tonight will certainly help their team to a playoff shaping victory.

THE SPOTLIGHT

Emmett Naar - it's been a bit of an up-and-down season for Naar so far, with the Hawks guard trying to find his groove off the bench behind the sharpshooting pair of Harvey and Justinian Jessup. 

At his best, Naar provides something the Hawks don't have and desperately need against aggressive defences that are taking more time and space away from their willing shooters. He can bring the ball up the floor, lead and run offensive sets and be a willing distributor -  all necessary qualities for a Hawks side that sits in the bottom few for assists per game.

Coach Brian Goorjian has indicated several times this season just how important Naar is to this side's success - but after being forced to bide his time behind superstar and now NBA-talent LaMelo Ball last season - it seems the adjustment to a less consistent role has extended at times into a second NBL campaign.

The Hawks need Naar's subtle leadership qualities and quiet confidence if they are to charge towards a playoff appearance this year - and we think the return to Wollongong will only spark him onto bigger and better things for the remainder of the season.