Hawks crash back to Earth as Phoenix run riot

The Result

Illawarra Hawks 63 - SE Melbourne Phoenix 95

The Story

What started as such a promising night ended in absolute disaster for the Hawks and their home fans as they were run out of their own building by a red-hot Phoenix outfit 95-63. 

Tyler Harvey entered the game under an injury cloud and although he started on the court, the three-point whiz was quieter than normal in the early exchanges - only throwing up one shot that clunked off the front of the rim before being substituted out for Emmett Naar.

Back court running mate Justinian Jessup took up the slack though - the sharpshooting American nailing ten points in the opening five minutes and giving Hawks fans plenty to cheer about.

Deng Adel opened his account with a pretty move, while Harvey got off the mark from the charity strip as Jessup continued to fire and connect at will. A 12-point quarter (his highest of the season) helping the Hawks to a 25-15 quartertime lead.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Throwing flames | Justinian Jessup <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/5vGsJlaj78">pic.twitter.com/5vGsJlaj78</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1377547962465718273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Phoenix came out of the first break firing though - a 15-4 run helping them hit the front midway through the term.

Former NBA star Ryan Broekhoff torching the Hawks to the tune of 14 first half points as the Hawks defenders struggled to close down the hottest hand on the court.

Deng Deng continued his hot form for Illawarra - landing a wide open three to put the Hawks back in front, before Jessup finished the half the way he started it - with a bucket.

The Phoenix outscoring the Hawks by 11 points in the term to lead 39-38 at the main break.

There weren't many highlights to talk about in the third quarter as the Hawks stuttered and spluttered their way to a meagre eight points.

Sam Froling getting on the end of some slick ball movement and finishing this passage of play with authority to at least give Hawks fans something to cheer about.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Flush <a href="https://twitter.com/sfrol13?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sfrol13</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/ZFMHS7Ea3q">pic.twitter.com/ZFMHS7Ea3q</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1377557910507593728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Phoenix taking an unsurmountable 69-46 lead into the final break on the back of an unbelievable 24-0 run.

The fourth quarter started with some good old fashioned biffo as both side's came together at centre court to remonstrate with one another - the tension soon dissipating as the Phoenix kept dropping in bucket after bucket.

Hawks coach Brian Goorjian cleared the bench with a little over five to play - inserting Isaac White, local lad Lachie Dent and Max Darling into the fray for the first time.

White draining a pair of shots in some encouraging signs late. The Phoenix improving to 6-0 against the Hawks since they entered the league last year - running away with a comprehensive 95-63 win.

The Stats

Aside from an opening quarter onslaught, the stat sheet made for pretty miserable reading for Hawks fans.

The Hawks were 26/71 (36%) from the field compared to the Phoenix who were lights out 36/73 (49%). The three ball has been once of the Hawks main offensive weapons this season but the side could only manage to connect on 17% of their deep attempts while SE Melbourne knocked down 47% of their shots from beyond the arc.

Phoenix led the game for rebounds (46-37), they handed out more assists (26-11), had more swipes (8-6) and blocked more shots (5-2) in what was a thorough and determined beat down on the Hawks home court.

The Hawks were forced to play without Bairstow and Harvey only logged 17minutes which put more pressure on the bench, but the Phoenix's reserves outshone the Illawarra second unit as well with 33 bench points to 19.

Jessup's 21-points and a double-double from Froling (10 points and 10 boards) were the only real highlights for Hawks tragics who will be hoping a matchup with the lowly 36ers on Saturday can spark some more offensive strike power.

The Fallout

"Really disappointing, soul searching, not expecting that. but learning all the time. No excuses but finding out about the team when Tyler's [Harvey] not there. That's who we play through on the perimeter, he runs everything. and then in the low block the guy we roll the ball into and move off is Cam [Bairstow] so we really haven't had that combination out and we had nothing offensively, zero," Coach Brian Goorjian said.

"I thought the guys that we have with those two out would defend and that's the part that shocked me, Just lazy, allowing perimeter shots, poor on ball defence, poor on the block out, just again I think everyone in the locker room, I think everyone in the stadium, everyone on the TV, just in shock, didn't expect that," Goorjian said.

"I'm gonna go right there with Emmett, but he's gonna have to run the team and he's got a background.We've got some guys that have been in this organisation for a while and they're getting an opportunity and they're getting an opportunity, it's their time. You can handle defeat, you can handle some rough patches but I thought there was no spit to it at all, no push off the ball, no pressure, manhandled, like we were like little kids and it starts with the guy with the ball, So I'm gonna go right there with him and right there with Lachie [Dent], next game the ball will be in their hands. Maybe a message got sent through this game but there gonna have to play at a whole nother level than what we got tonight," Goorjian said.

"We had nothing from the perimeter, they were laying off our perimeter guys and letting em shoot other than Justinian [Jessup] and the whole key was clogged. To execute anything without Tyler in there or without rolling that ball into the block, I just didn't know how we were gonna get a good shot. I think over the course of time when they started hitting, it just led to the blowout," Goorjian said.

"I mean its disappointing and it's deflating when you're out there. I mean I think the answer is we look the best when we get stops on defence and run. We did that in the first quarter and then it kind of died off so I think that's our style of play and if we get back to that, that's when we look good," Sam Froling said.

The Road Ahead

Round 12 – Saturday 3 April at 8pm AEDT v Adelaide 36ers @ Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide

The Hawks will pack their bags and head back on the road tomorrow - with their first trip to Adelaide for the season on the schedule.

The 36ers are currently in the midst of a five-game losing streak and are reeling after injuries to star big man Isaac Humphries and future NBA-prospect Josh Giddey derailed what looked like being a competitive 2021 campaign.

The one and only time these side's met the Hawks came away with an NBL Cup victory 98-89 with Tyler Harvey (24) and Deng Adel (19) the chief destroyers. The Hawks will be hanging on the fitness of both Harvey and Bairstow as they try and sure up a position in the NBL top four.