Hawkeye - Illawarra Hawks v Melbourne United R9 Preview

THE MUST KNOWS 

When: 8pm, Saturday 13 March

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne

Broadcast: ESPN, SBS On Demand and Twitch

Last Time They Met: Melbourne 91 (Hopson 21, Mccarron 17, Baba 13) defeated Illawarra 88 (Jessup 24, Harvey 22, Froling 16), Round 5, February 10 2021

THE PRELUDE

The final game of the inaugural NBL Cup is far from a dead rubber for both these sides - wth both the Hawks and United still in with a chance of claiming some of the lucrative prizemoney on offer.

The Hawks need nothing less than a win - and to claim all four quarters - to even be a sniff of walking away with the $50,000 third place prize, while the same result for United could catapult them as high as second, earning them a $100,000 windfall.

Last time these side's met Melbourne scored a franchise record 36-points in the opening quarter but neither team led by more than seven points at any stage during the contest. Scotty Hopson led Melbourne in scoring with 21 on that occasion - but he will be missing from United's lineup today - while Justinian Jessup led the Hawks scoring with 24 and Tyler Harvey had 22.

Today’s game is number 15 for Illawarra and the club's previous game against Melbourne remains the only one it has played in Wollongong so far this season.

Illawarra had an equal season best 20-point win over the Kings on Thursday and shot a season best 52.9% from the field – earning the win despite shooting an out of character 46.7% from the free-throw line (7 from 15).

Sam Froling scored a career high 20-points and his six rebounds helped him top the Hawks scorers and rebounders for the first time in his career. (9 from 10 from the field).

Melbourne have suffered consecutive losses for the first time this season after an overtime loss to the Phoenix and have now played nine consecutive games decided by single figures (six wins and three losses).

United could be severely undermanned tonight with Hopson and Jack White definitely out - while star centre Jock Landale, Yudai Baba and Sam McDaniel are all trying to overcome an illness in order to take the court.

THE FUN FACTS

Brian Goorjian is coaching his 750^th NBL game. In his first 749 games he has won 522 and lost 227 for a winning career clip of 69.7%.

March 13 is also a special date in Goorjian’s history as it was on this day in 2009 when he won his last NBL Championship as coach of the South Dragons against the Tigers in game five at John Cain Arena.

In their first seven games this season, no team was able to get more than nine points in front of United at any stage of any game. In the past six however, United has fallen behind by double figures four times and although they were able to fightback to win the first two, the last two have gone the other way.

Melbourne had given up 90-points just twice in their first 11 games but in the last two has allowed 96 to Brisbane and season-high 97 to the Phoenix (although that game went to overtime).

Over the last three games combined, United’s opposition has shot 50% from the field (Breakers - 50%, Bullets - 51.4% and Phoenix - 48.1%) – three of their four highest percentages for the season.

THE MATCH UP

Tyler Harvey v Chris Goulding

It's a clash between the new kid on the block and one of the proven stars of the NBL.

Harvey's brilliance has wowed fans all over the country for the best part of three months - his array of miraculous floaters and seemingly endless range impressing leageu-wide. Goulding on the other hand has been strutting his stuff on courts around the country for over a decade, with his mixture of sublime skill, superior experience and winning mentality a force to be reckoned with.

Both Harvey and Goulding are capable of tearing a game apart from anywhere on the court, but their importance to their respective side's extends well beyond the three-point arc. Both men have taken on important leadership roles within their squads and will be leaned on heavily today to help ther side win an important NBL fixture.

Harvey leads all Hawks scorers this season with a tick over 20 a game, while Goulding has scored 21 and 22 in the two games has come back from injury and still leads Melbourne in scoring at 18.1 whilst shooting at a career best clip from the three-point line of 45.3%.

THE SPOTLIGHT

Brian Goorjian - Goorjian has won six NBL Championships and has been named coach of the year six times, including the last two seasons he coached in 2008 with the Sydney Kings and 2009 with the South Dragons.

Goorjian’s first ever NBL game was on 13 February 1988 when he led the Eastside Melbourne Spectres to a 107-127 loss to the Falcons in Newcastle who were coached by Hall of Famer, Ken Cole.

He actually lost his first six games as a NBL coach before breaking through with a 111-96 win over the Westside Melbourne Saints at the Glasshouse.  

He is almost 100 games clear of the next most experienced NBL coach in Lindsay Gaze (651 games) with Joey Wright’s 500 games the third most.

Active coaches numbers in NBL:
749 Brian Goorjian
430 Trevor Gleeson
387 Andrej Lemanis
205 Dean Vickerman