Hawks consolidate playoff spot with important win over 36ers

The Result

Illawarra Hawks 81 - Adelaide 36ers 73

The Story

It was a game the Illawarra Hawks desperately needed to win and with the help of a first half offensive explosion, they were able to withstand a late Adelaide surge to grind out a comfortable 81-73 victory. 

It was the home side that got off to the hot start - shooting out to an early 14-6 lead on the back of five points each from Dan Johnson and Keanu Pinder.

Former Hawk Sunday Dech wore Tyler Harvey as a second skin for most of the first quarter - limiting the key offensive weapon to five points on 2/5 shooting in nine first quarter minutes.

Local lad Isaac White got some early burn for Illawarra and rewarded coach Brian Goorjian with this sweettly stroked three ball, as the Hawks launched their way to the front.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We see you <a href="https://twitter.com/IsaacLewisWhite?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IsaacLewisWhite</a> ?<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/UvBPYNNs41">pic.twitter.com/UvBPYNNs41</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1395678703070285825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Illawarra finishing the the quarter on an 18-0 run (their best of the season) to be up 24-14 the the first break.

In the second quarter the Hawks started to get off the chain, with Justin Simon getting on the end of this fantastic piece of team play for the visitors to stuff it home.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Double at your own peril ? <a href="https://twitter.com/simon_Says_so?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@simon_Says_so</a> <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/p5ZlB25KuA">pic.twitter.com/p5ZlB25KuA</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1395685071374340097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Not long after Harvey dropped home his second long ball of the night, and Froling chipped in his tenth point of the night to put the Hawks up by 13.

Skipper AJ Ogilvy got in on the scoring act as well when he drove to the hoop and finished from close range - the Hawks whipping the ball around in their best passing display of the season.

The 36ers continued to double team Harvey and it proved costly as Simon, Froling and Deng all got wide open looks that they easily converted.

The Hawks taking their biggest halftime lead of the season into the oranges at 50-28.

The Hawks defence continued to cause Adelaide all kinds of issues in the second half, with the normally reliable Brandan Paul and Tony Crocker both launching air balls in a sign it wasn't going to be the 36ers night.

A pair of technical fouls on Adelaide further infuriating the local fans as the Hawks stretched their lead to 26, with Froling showing off some of his handles on the way to the basket here,

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Woah! Point forward <a href="https://twitter.com/samfroling_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@samfroling_</a> <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/4EPNcNS0qT">pic.twitter.com/4EPNcNS0qT</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1395690654601080833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

A Daniel Dillion inspired resurgence helped Adelaide trim the lead back to 15 with two to play in the third quarter, before White dropped another three and Emmett Naar found a wide open Froling to push the lead out to 67-46.

A final Adelaide push saw the home side drag the margin back to eight at one stage late in the game, before the Hawks steadied under the calm heads of Harvey and Ogilvy.

Harvey nailing eight of the Hawks last 10 points, while Ogilvy dished out an assist and pulled down a massive offensive board  that allowed Harvey to land the dagger three.

The Hawks running out 81-73 winners, with the victory just their fifteenth in the City of Churches in 61 attempts. 

The Stats

It was a new NBL points scoring high from Isaac White (16), with the SA product producing his career night in front of his friends and family in Adelaide.

The 36ers actually shot the ball better than the Hawks (45%-44% from the field and 30%-29% from three), but as usual the visitors led the steal count (12-5) and made the most of their swipes with 17 points from turnovers to Adelaide's four.

Both second units performed admirably and the result was a slight edge to the Hawks in bench points (28-27).

Illawarra registered an amazing 25 assists in the unselfish display. The big number a positive sign for coach Goorjian with the Hawks barely managing double figures over the past month.

The Hawks came up big in the paint with 40 points to the home side's 30, and also led second chance points 11-10.

The Fallout

"We completely were off it [to open the game], and really the timeout early and quick. I hardly said a word. I just said "we've talked about this, c'mon now" and they just jumped right into it. It's not about me, but it's about what we discussed as a team that we need to do to be successful or have any chance in the playoffs," Hawks coach Brian Goorjian said.

"How do you build a culture? You have to play in games that matter and this organisation, it's had a great history but the last two years, it's been over mid-year. And a lot of these guys have only been part of the team that amount of time so to play in games of importance starts building the culture," Goorjian said.

"Emmett [Naar], Isaac White, [Sam] Froling, these are young guys, we've got [Dan] Grida, that were really on a five win team last year and they didn't play much. The main guys are gone and these young guys I was really excited aboutt tonight. This thing's getting long, it's getting harsh, we need the bench and tonight, as angry as I was after the Melbourne game, I'm happy tonight," Goorjian said.

"If you said at the start of the season we'd be sitting in fourth place now with I think it's four games at home and one more game on the road, we'd take that. But we're really gonna have to take it game-by-game, you can't look too far ahead at this stage of the season. Every single game is so important, I think we're happy with where we are right now, it's just about doing what we need to do to keep bridging that gap between us and Sydney," Hawks guard Emmett Naar said.

"It would have been nice to make a few shots but I felt good out there. As Goorj said, having Isaac, and JJ and Tyler and shooters like that around spacing the floor really makes it easy in that pick and roll because they're so focused on those guys and if they're not they'll get open shots. Then being able to play with great roll guys like AJ [Ogilvy] and Frols, it just makes it a lot easier for me," Naar said.

The Road Ahead

Round 19 - Sunday May 23, 5pm AEST v Cairns Taipans @ WIN Entertainment Centre