Hawkeye - Illawarra Hawks v NZ Breakers R16 Preview

THE MUST KNOWS 

When: 7:30pm AEST, Monday 3 May

Where: Silverdome, Launceston

Broadcast: ESPN, SBS On Demand and Twitch

Past meetings:

Round 6 at John Cain Arena, Melbourne: Hawks 102 def Breakers 88

THE PRELUDE

The Hawks enter this game in a precarious position on the NBL ladder, with a win against the lowly Breakers set to keep them right on the edge of the playoff picture.

A loss will see the bridge begin to widen between them and the Kings and Phoenix, the two teams Illawarra is chasing down for a post-season berth.

This is the only game for Illawarra in a span of 17 days. The Hawks have not played since they lost to Sydney in overtime at home on April 24 and they have a bye in round 17 and don’t play again until May 11 at home against a surging Adelaide.

This is the last of six home games the Breakers were scheduled to play in Launceston but they have forged an impressive record at their home-away-from-home.

Breakers games at Silverdome:
Lost to Wildcats by 6 in overtime
Beat Bullets by 20
Lost to Taipans by 2
Beat 36ers by 16
Beat Wildcats by 2

In what could be a bad omen, every team in the league has beaten the Hawks this year at least once except for the Breakers.

Hawks stars Deng Adel and Cameron Bairstow are both available for this one.

THE FUN FACTS

When these side's met at the NBL Cup, Illawarra shot 16-from-30 three-pointers (53.3%) which was their equal most made of the season and best percentage.

Since the Cup though, the Hawks are the worst three-point shooting team at 28.2% overall and have been even worse on the road - shooting a measly 24.6%.

Over their past three games, Illawarra has also been the lowest scoring team in the NBL at just 73.3 per game scoring 75, 76 and 69.

New Zealand are in a bit of an upward spiral at the moment after winning four of their last six games. The Breakers have won all four games when Levi Randolph has scored 15-points or more and he has led their scoring in three of their past six games.

The Hawks have lost their past three games with all games against the top three teams in Sydney (lost in overtime), and road games to Melbourne and Perth.

Last 5 road games for Hawks:
19.4% Tyler Harvey (6 from 31)
26.7% Justinian Jessup (8 from 30)
33.3% Deng Deng (5 from 15)
50.0% Emmett Naar (4 from 8)
28.6% Justin Simon (2 from 7)

In true road games this year, Illawarra have lost their past five all by double figures with all losses between 10 and 15-points. They beat the Kings in Sydney in round five by three but their last interstate win out of the NBL Cup was against the Taipans in Cairns back in round three.

Brian Goorjian has not lost four games in a row in the NBL since March 1988 when he coached six losses to start his NBL career. He has coached 755 games since the last – and only – time he lost four games in a row.

Brian Goorjian has actually coached at the Silverdome before as he led the Ballarat Miners in the SEBL in 1987 in a game against the Launceston Ocelots on Sunday 14^th June with the home team winning 105-89. This was Launceston’s first season in the SEBL and in 1988 Goorjian left Ballarat to become head coach for the Eastside Spectres in the NBL.

THE MATCH UP

Justin Simon v The Webster Bros

After starting the season in astonishing form on both ends of the court, many pundits around the league already began bestowing Defensiver Player of the Year honours on Hawks import Justin Simon.

Simon was then thrust into coach Goorjian's starting lineup more permanently and although still producing at a good defensive clip, struggled to have a similar impact on a nightly basis. Over the first six games of the season he amassed an incredible 20 steals, the next 14 produced 20 swipes, but over his last four he's revved back up his defensive intensity and had 12 takeaways.

He'll have his hands full tonight with one of the best and most exciting duos in the NBL in the Webster boys - Corey and Tai. The only meeting these side's have had this year both Corey (22) and Tai (20) breached 20-points for the Breakers. It was the first time the Webster brothers had both scored 20 in the same game in the NBL and with Tai recently returning from injury, the Breakers are looking to make one last run at the playoffs on the back of their brilliant brother pairing. 

THE SPOTLIGHT

Sam Froling - Froling is playing his first game in Tasmania but his roots are deep. His mother Jenny (Lind) was a member of the Hobart Islanders who won their only WNBL Championship in 1991 while his father Shane played for the Devils in 1991 and 1992 before both headed back to Queensland and eventually produced four siblings all who have played at the top level.

Froling is the only Hawks player to have started every game for the club this season and with each appearance seems to only enhance his status as one of the rising stars of the league. Over the Hawks last three games against arguably the best sides in the league (Perth, Melbourne and Sydney), Froling has averaged 16 points, 9 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and a steal per game. Statistical proof he can match it with the best in the NBL night-in and night-out.