Hawkeye - Illawarra Hawks v Melbourne United R19 Preview

THE MUST KNOWS 

When: 7:30pm AEST, Tuesday 18 May

Where: WIN Entertainment Centre

Broadcast: ESPN, SBS On Demand and Twitch

Past meetings:

Round 5: Melbourne 91 def Illawarra 88 at WIN Entertainment Centre
Round 9: Illawarra 77 def Melbourne 69 at John Cain Arena 
Round 10: Melbourne 75 def Illawarra 65 at John Cain Arena
Round 14: Melbourne 87 def Illawarra 76 at John Cain Arena

THE PRELUDE

The Hawks enter game number 30 of the season riding high on the back of a three game win streak, while United drag themselves into the WIN Entertainment Centre fresh off a stinging loss to cross-town rivals, the SE Melbourne Phoenix.

The Hawks current three game streak is their best win streak of the season since opening NBL21 with four wins in a row.

Despite their 83-94 loss to the Phoenix, and dropping two of their past four, United isn't far removed from it's franchise best winning streak of 11 in a row.

United has won six of its last seven games against the Hawks in Wollongong including their four overtime classic in October 2018.

This will be David Andersen’s first game back in Wollongong since signing with United. The former Boomer spent his last two seasons in the NBL in a Hawks uniform.

A Hawks loss in this match will drop them to fifth while Melbourne will stay on top of the ladder regardless of this result.

THE FUN FACTS

The Hawks have not passed 76-points in their last six games.

In his previous 22 seasons as head coach in the NBL, Brian Goorjian’s teams had never scored less than 80-points more than twice in a row.

The Hawks are currently shooting at a league low 42.5% which is on track to be the worst shooting clip in franchise history. The 2015 Illawarra team that finished with a wooden spoon currently hold that mark at 42.6%FG.

Over the past six games, the Hawks have held opponents to a league low 40.9% from the field, and lead the league ahead of Melbourne who are ranked second best at opposition FG% at 42.3%.

The Hawks are forcing their opponents into a league worst 15.7 turnovers per game and sending them to the free-throw line a league low 12.7 times per game.

The last time Brian Goorjian had to fight for a playoff place at this stage of the season was in his second year of coaching in 1989. He had a 50% record for the Spectres and missed out on the top six despite winning the final four games of the season. Goorjian has made the NBL playoffs in the 20 seasons he has coached since 1990.

Illawarra will play five more home games in their last seven, where they have a record of five wins and four losses so far.

United have six wins and one loss outside of Victoria so far with their only loss coming at Sydney by 28-points in round ten.

THE MATCH UP

Tyler Harvey v Mitch McCarron

Harvey has to be in the MVP discussion for NBL21 on the back of standout nightly performances for a squad that desperately needs his deadly offensive punch. 

The Californian native has willed his way to an average of 20ppg, with his mix of outside shooting and midrange float game sending side's insane in his first full season in the NBL. He's had a huge workload as well, with Harvey not only leading the Hawks lineup in minutes played (32), but being charged with running the side's offensive sets under the guidance of supercoach Brian Goorjian. 

United has done a reasonable job keeping Harvey quiet in three clashes so far this NBL season, with the Hawks guard held to 18.3 points per contest compared to his league-wide clip of over 20 points a game. Mitch McCarron has been a big part of that, with the Boomers squad member dogged and determined in his efforts to quell the Hawks hero.

McCarron is a past first guard, but his offensive prowess shouldn't be underrated. He hands out five assists per contest to the likes of sharpshooters Chris Goulding and Scotty Hopson, and is a big reason why United sits atop the NBL table.

THE SPOTLIGHT

AJ Ogilvy - the Hawks skipper has been a constant source of grit, grind and gruntwork this season as he leads a young Illawarra lineup towards a potential playoff berth.

His numbers over the last five games won't knock your socks off - 6ppg, 3.8rpg, 1.6apg and a steal - but he's been registering stats in just about every column of the box score while only playing 14 minutes per contest.

Ogilvy will have his hands full tonight, with in-form big man Jock Landale baring down on the WIN Entertainment Centre determined to cement his side's spot atop the NBL standings.