Hawks bite Bullets - move to 3-0

The Result

Hawks 90 – Brisbane Bullets 82

The Story

Everyone loves a comeback – and The Hawks treated their fans to a beauty at the Nissan Arena in Brisbane last night.

It was always going to be an interesting game for the unofficial ladder leaders. It was their third game in six days, the Bullets were well rested and The Hawks were down on troops.

And after a lackluster opening quarter (down by 10 at the first break) – things threatened to get ugly for Brian Goorjian’s men.

“I thought tonight we walked into a team we beat [last time] and had a week to just sit here and prepare for us and lick their chops. They came out with the fist clinched and came after us hard and got on top of us early,” Goorjian said.

“But I thought the team again, as in Cairns showed tremendous character and just fought back, didn’t let it go, stayed in it, stayed competitive, took their punch and then settled the game down and got back into it,” he added.

Minutes into the second stanza, that tide started turning.

Three straight Hawks buckets from Tyler Harvey, coupled with some big defensive plays from skipper AJ Ogilvy forced a Bullets timeout with the lead cut to seven.

“I just wanted to try and bring some energy to the group. That first quarter we didn't play to the standard that we set in Cairns. The biggest part for me was coming out trying to provide energy for the group…we’ve got such a talented group that I felt we just let ourselves down in that first quarter,” Ogilvy said.

The Hawks began screwing down defensively, resulting in a four-minute scoreless stretch for Brisbane, with the gap between the two teams more or less decimated by halftime.

The second half proved to be a real slugfest with both sides trading baskets at will as the Bullets mounted a fightback - pulling with two with only a minute and change on the clock.

It was backup guard Emmett Naar who steadied the ship for The Hawks though - firstly taking a charge, then dropping in a nifty lefty layup to give his side some breathing room.

The Hawks eventually edging away for a 90-82 victory.

The performances of Naar and Ogilvy in particular earned them the praise of coach Goorjian after the match.

“Tonight Emmett Naar in the clutch [was great] and AJ Ogilvy did a tremendous job in the captains role with leadership and keeping this team together…he was controlling the paint, protecting the rim and his finishing was outstanding, he played a real captains role tonight,” Goorjian said.

The Stats

Tyler Harvey was the star, torching the Bullets for 31 points on 11/21 shooting. Harvey scored 17 second quarter points – the highest mark for a Hawks player in a quarter since Jahii Carson had 18 in November 2014.

“I'm learning about him all the time and the teams just getting more and more confident with him. I though it was a huge ask tonight the way this team went after him and what we had on our plate…I said to him after the game, your conditioning, your will is special. I thought the kids in tremendous shape. He’s got a really strong constitution and a will to win,” Goorjian said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The unstoppable force <a href="https://twitter.com/YoungTRaaw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YoungTRaaw</a> is your latest <a href="https://twitter.com/peppermoney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@peppermoney</a> ‘Money Ball of the Game’ winner Hawk Nation. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/vm51Ukl1ph">pic.twitter.com/vm51Ukl1ph</a></p>&mdash; Hawks Basketball (@thehawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/thehawks/status/1352456047194116098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Captain AJ Ogilvy (14pts, 9reb, 4ast on 67% shooting) got the start again in the absence of Cam Bairstow and repaid Coach Goorjian with another all-round stat line. Ogilvy also had a steal and a block.

Fan favourite Justin Simon was busy again (9pts, 9reb, 2ast) although he failed to register a steal for the first time in his NBL career, while Next Star Justinian Jessup carved out a nice game (10pts, 6reb, 6ast and 2stl) despite being well held by an aggressive Bullets back court.

It might not always show up on the stat sheet but what Emmett Naar (8pts, 1reb, 2ast) brings to the table each night is also invaluable.

Both sides shot 42% from the field in this one but the game was one and lost at the 3-point line. The Hawks shot 8/19 for 42% from beyond the arc with Harvey (3/6) and Jessup (2/4) continuing their good form from deep.

The Bullets were 6/32 for 19% and must be ruing misses on a bunch of open looks. Jason Cadee (1/6) and Nathan Sobey (3/11) were the worst culprits.

The Hawks again dominated the offensive glass (14-9) but were held to only four fast break points by an aggressive Bullets outfit.

The Casualty Ward

Deng Adel and Cam Bairstow both missed Thursday night’s game with minor injuries.

Adel continues to recover from a quad issue and is being given every chance to play against the Cairns Taipans on January 28, while Bairstow may need another game on the sidelines.

The Hawks depth becoming increasingly important as the season unfolds – and with Goorjian noticing a distinct shift in the style of NBL play.

“I haven’t played in the league for 11 years. Everyone is playing us full court and picking us up and crawling in our grill. That kind of defence and that kind of energy means you have to move bodies. We’re blessed that we’ve got that depth on the bench and again we’ve got a couple more to add to this. But the guys that we got on the bench have come in and consistently contributed or held the line or pushed us forward,” Goorjian said.

The Road Ahead

Round 3 – Thursday 28 January v Cairns Taipans @ Cairns Pop-Up Arena, Cairns

The Hawks return to the scene of their biggest win so far this season for a second matchup with the Taipans in as many weeks. It’ll be the team’s fourth straight road game and will cap more than a month away from home after leaving Wollongong on Boxing Day last year.

It was a thorough and well-rounded performance against the Snakes last time out (92-76) and Goorjian and co. will be trying to become the first Hawks team since 2004 to start a season 4-0.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">After moving to 3-0 in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> we hear from <a href="https://twitter.com/thehawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thehawks</a> head coach Brian Goorjian and AJ Ogilvy ??<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HWKatBNE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HWKatBNE</a> <a href="https://t.co/3ablnlT9dq">pic.twitter.com/3ablnlT9dq</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1352213441994391555?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>