Hawkeye - Illawarra Hawks v Sydney Kings R5 Preview

THE MUST KNOWS 

When: 3pm, Sunday 14 February

Where: Qudos Bank Arena. Sydney

Broadcast: SBS Viceland, SBS On Demand and Twitch

Last Time They Met: Kings 98 (Tate and Ware 19, Newley 13) defeated Illawarra Hawks 82 (Dech 26, Glover 15, Grida 9) - February 14, 2020

THE PRELUDE

The first 'Freeway Series' game of the season and the 99^th game between the Kings and the Hawks in NBL history will also go down in as the first meeting between the NBL’s newest coach Adam Forde (3 wins 3 losses from six games) and the most experienced in Brian Goorjian (518 wins and 223 losses from 741 games)

The game also marks the first time in Goorjian’s 23 seasons as an NBL coach that he faces a team that he used to coach (he recently revisited South East Melbourne but the Phoenix weren't in existance when he coached there).

Goorjian's record in the Harbour City is something to behold.

A three-peat of championships, 226 games over six seasons with 164 wins and  62 losses, and a winning record of just over 72% making him the clubs greatest ever coach.

Today he walks into Qudos Bank Arena for the 10^th time and all have been as the away coach with eight wins and a solitary loss so far. 

The game is integral for both sides with the Hawks determined to stop a two-game slide while the Kings are looking to make it three on the bounce.

The Hawks results so far:
Round 1: Beat Brisbane on the road by 6
Round 1: Beat Cairns on the road by 16
Round 2: Beat Brisbane on the road by 8
Round 3: Beat Cairns on the road by 20
Round 4: Lost to SEM Phoenix on the road by 16
Round 5: Lost to Melbourne at home by 3

THE FUN FACTS

All-time results: Kings 54 wins Hawks 44 wins
All time results in Sydney: Kings 31 wins Hawks 20 wins

After winning their first four games of the season, the Hawks are facing the prospect of three straight losses. The last time Brian Goorjian coached three straight losses in the regular season was December 2002.

In their first four wins, the Hawks were giving up just 78 points per game but allowed 98 against the Phoenix and 91 against Melbourne.

Illawarra's next win will will match the five they won all of last season. The last placed Hawks did beat the first placed Kings in a New Years Eve thriller in 2019.

THE MATCH UP

Tyler Harvey v Casper Ware

This the type of matchup NBL fans league wide will be clamoring to see.

One of the new stars of the league in Tyler Harvey will take on one of the most established in Casper Ware in a duel that will have fans salivating.

Harvey is averaging 21 points a game for the Hawks this season and is closing in on the elusive 50-40-90 club (47% FG - 41% from 3 - 95% FT).

Ware has been the barometer so far for the Kings in 2021. In their three wins, Ware has scored 20 points or more (27,22,22) and in their three losses he's been far quieter (18,15,15).

How both men perform in the clutch may well decide who comes away with the win. Ware loves the big moment and is a proven performer late in games while Harvey will be looking to atone for his final few minutes against United last time out and lead his Hawks to a much needed win.

THE SPOTLIGHT

Emmett Naar - the Hawks backup point guard had a stellar start to #NBL21 but has been starved of opportunity over the Hawks last two outings, getting only 14 and 5 minutes respectively in back-to-back losses.

Naar was instrumental in the Hawks season opening win against the Bullets witg 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, providing a scoring punch and late game leadership off the bench for Brian Goorjian's side. 

Since then it's been slimmer pickings for the 26-year-old - a mixture of lack of opportunity and the hot form of Harvey and Jessup meaning Naar has been cooling his heels on the bench. But not for much longer though - with Goorjian already indicating post-match against Melbourne that the likes of Naar and Deng Adel would come in for more minutes against the Kings.

"I didn't get that bench involved. I put this on me...with Emmett and with Deng Adel in foul trouble. We need more out of that bench. I thought that six or seven we got a lot out of and over those four wins we were going 9, 10, 11 deep and tonight I cut that rotation down to six or seven when Adel got in foul trouble and tightened the belt down the stretch trying to get the win. I think that's a big factor, our depth and using our bench," Goorjian said.

THE QUOTES (FEAT. ISAAC WHITE)

On the transformation of the Hawks this season...

I remember after the first game, wins were rare last year but I think the guys who rolled over have spoken on the attention to detail people have and the comitment and the culture that's kind of been built in such a short span of time. Obviously I know no different because its my first year here but I definitely agree, we've got such a strong culture.

On the Hawks two game skid...

I wouldn't say things aren't clicking. The last game against Melbourne at home we were a lot happier than with our way game against South East Melbourne. It was a little bit of perfect storm for South East when we were on the road over there. They made every shot they could and we were kind of a little bit flat but i think we definitely made an adjustment during the week when we played Melbourne and we should be trending up from there. But that's the way the season is gonna go, guys are gonna hit form and stuff like that and you've gotta ride the waves out and get enough wins on the board for the post season.

On the key matchups with the Sydney Kings...

We're super motivated to win this one. We've actually had a few preseaosn hit outs with them so we kind of know what we should be up against but every game is super important as we roll into this kind of unknown season. We're not going to take anything for granted and we should come out swinging. I like Jarell Martin and Casper Ware, their two imports provide a lot of firepower for them. But also DJ - one of their younger guys - has been getting kind of hot lately, but we trust in our defensive principles I think weve got a pretty solid gameplan to keep them quiet and we've certainly got a bit of firepower ourselves.