Hawks flushed by sharp-shooting United

The Result

Illawarra Hawks 76 - Melbourne United 87

The Story

It was another tough day on the road for the Hawks after the men from the Illawarra went down to a red hot Melbourne United 87 to 76 at John Cain Arena to round out the two toughest road trips in basketball. 

The Hawks entered the clash off an encouraging performance against defending champions Perth on Friday night, but were blown off the floor early as United scored on nine of their first 11 trips down the floor.

Skipper AJ Ogilvy and second-year big man Sam Froling did their best to keep the Hawks in touch - further developing their combination with sweet plays like this.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Love that big to big energy <a href="https://twitter.com/AJ_Ogilvy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AJ_Ogilvy</a> | <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/tT5pCs1tZg">pic.twitter.com/tT5pCs1tZg</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1383651393500680193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The pair both finishing the opening term with seven points as the Hawks trailed 30-21 at the first break.

United continued to make shots to open the second quarter - Jo Lual-Acuil a perfect 5/5 rrom the field, with Mason Peatling also without a blemish in the first 18 minutes as Melbourne hit 18/22 from the field. 

'Next Star' Justinian Jessup shot himself out of a mini slump - knocking down 4/7 and collecting 10 first half points - while Justin Simon continued to show off his defensive chops and athleticism with this highlight reel play on the stroke of halftime. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Steal and stuff to end the half <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/pkRVGbGhfN">pic.twitter.com/pkRVGbGhfN</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1383659825666543620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

United shooting the lights out on their way to a 56-42 advantage at the oranges.

One of the stories of the first half though has to be an apparent groin injury to Hawks marquee star Deng Adel.

Adel only played the four minutes to halftime and did not return in the second stanza. If it is indeed a serious issue - it would be another cruel blow for the former Cleveland Cavalier in a year that has not been without its challenges.

The third quarter saw both side's settle into a normal rhytrhm as United's shooting cooled off and the Hawks found a better defensive scheme.

Ogilvy continued his great season and has found more freedom and minutes with fellow big man Cam Bairstow missing with injury - while Jessup continued to show his wares with Golden State Warriors scout Michael Lee still watching from the stands. 

United holding a comfortable 76-61 lead going into the final 12 minutes.

The Hawks mustered a late charge on the back of Deng Deng knocking down a pair of triples - Illawarra dragging themselves within 10 with just under three to play as Dean Vickerman called time to talk it over.

Back-to-back buckets from United stars Chris Goulding and Jock Landale put paid to any hopes of a miraculous comeback though - United running out comfortable 87-76 winners.

The Stats

United finished with a much more moderate shooting percentage of 51% but they were shot the lights out in the first half, going into the main break having made 78% of their field goals. 

The Hawks managed to stem the tide in the second half, but with the visitors only shooting 43% themselves, it was always going to be a tough ask to reel back the ladder leaders away from home. 

Neither side got to the line much in this one, but coach Brian Goorjian must still be concerned about his side's inability to capitalise from the line - 6/11 at 54% today.

United smashed Illawarra on the boards and made the most of Cam Bairstow's absence (46-29) and the bench performance was simply irresistable. United's reserves scoring 40-points to the Hawks 14.

The Hawks continue to have more blocks and steals than their counterparts so Goorjian would no doubt be pleased with some of his side's defensive stats.

The Fallout

"Even on the weekend this was gonna be a tough one, a tough two. The Perth one was a struggle but we were in the game with six minutes to go, and tonight I though they shot the ball really well at the start of the game, I thought we made some adjustments offensively that were good for us and the tempo of the game suited us, it's just, it's a tough double coming back here at 3 o'clock in the afternoon," Goorjian said

"There was no quit in us. They had us by 18. They had us by 16. They are who they are, they are where they are. We cut it to ten and just couldn't get the stops we needed and turned the ball over a little bit too much in crunch times. Again, some positivies, I thought Deng Deng was a positive. I thought Naar helped us carrying the ball and using Justinian and tyler off those screens, I thought we got a lot out of that tonight and then Grida's starting to come into the group," Goorjian said.

"I think it's a quad issue, but there was some sort of strain he [Deng Adel] had and he pointed to the sidelines and I took him out and I was told a couple of minutes later that he's done for the night and so they'll assess that now. But again we've got some depth there with Grida back, and Justin, Justinian, playing Tyler in that two tonight and giving Naar some minutes, there is a direction to go, disappointing obviously but certain injuries you can cover and certain injuries are really difficult. We'll do whatever we can to get him back but right now we do have coverage there" goorjian said.

"I think he's [Deng Denng] growing, weve gone through a process and he's had ups and downs, I think since we played Adelaide in Adelaide theres been a continual climb and an understanding of what he needs to do to be great amd I thought the cornerstone is that defending and rebounding and running the floor, he also protects the rim a little bit...he also has the ability to hit the three point ball and stretch the court which we need right now...I couldn't be prouder, I'm really happy for him and there's a lot more in him and a lot more growth there, I think he can be really special" goorjian said.

"It's just all about opportunity you know. I came here and wasn't expecting anything, just come in and work hard and leave with the result...I've put in the work and it's finally showing off, I'm just grateful to be in this team and just be able to just help whatever coach wants and whatever he needs me to do to help the team win. Credit to the coach, he gave me that confidence you know, just to go out there and play hard and everything which  is going the right way and that's what I'm doing now," Deng Deng said.

The Road Ahead

Round 15 – Saturday 24 April at 8pm AEST v Sydney Kings @ WIN Entertainment Centre