Hawks Overcome Bairstow Blow to Topple Taipans

THE RESULT

Hawks 92 - Taipans 76

THE STORY

It was a night to remember in Far North Queensland as The Hawks downed the Cairns Taipans 92-76 to remain undefeated after Round 1 of the 2020-21 NBL season.

The Hawks led at every break at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena, running away comfortable 16 point victors over the 2020-21 NBL finalists - affirming themselves as a serious title contender in the process.

Head coach Brian Goorjian was ecstatic with his young Hawks outfit - saying the team has risen to every challenge thrown at them so far this season.

“I'm really proud of the team and I just keep talking about how this group has been since I arrived. I think it’s special as far as closeness and energy and hard work, wanting to get better and my message to them is 'that's fine, this is entertainment, put it on the floor and let people see it'," Goorjian said.

Goorjian singled out point guard Tyler Harvey for special praise, highlighting his on court leadership in the blow out victory.

“This guy [Tyler Harvey] ran the team from the floor. It’s such a pleasant experience being there and just being able to talk to guys and let him do the play calls, let him run the team, let him change the defence, he was just tremendous tonight," Goorjian said.

THE STATS

Tyler Harvey (25pts, 3reb, 7ast), Justinian Jessup (24pts, 4/4 from three, 3stl) and Justin Simon (10pts, 12reb, 3blk) were instrumental in the win.

Skipper AJ Ogilvy made the most of a last minute promotion to the starting lineup (6pts, 8reb, 3ast and 2stls) and led all comers with a +26 differential while on court. 

Isaac White (5pts, 6reb), Sam Froling (11pts, 6reb) and Deng Deng (8 pts, 4reb) also providing handy contributions while Kiwi young gun Max Darling made his first appearance for the club off the bench.

In what was billed as a free-flowing offensive shootout - it was The Hawks who knuckled down most on defence, holding the Taipans to just 39% from the field and 28% from deep.

On the flipside The Hawks connected on 48% of their shots and made 8/21 fom distance.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Head Coach Brian Goorjian and Tyler Harvey speak to the media after <a href="https://twitter.com/thehawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thehawks</a> win in Cairns ??<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HWKatCNS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HWKatCNS</a> <a href="https://t.co/gspolAs5l8">pic.twitter.com/gspolAs5l8</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1351122226255429633?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

THE CASUALTY WARD

It wasn’t all good news for the new ladder leaders – with big man Cam Bairstow injuring himself in the warm-up and taking no part in the game. It's believed Bairstow suffered an ankle injury, with the severity not yet know.

“To be honest with ya I have no idea what happened with Cam. Really unfortunate circumstances, in my time in coaching I’ve never had a situation like that. A guy get hurt in warm-ups, it does happen but its never happened to me and I just gave him a high five and said "head up, we’ll move forward with this". He was really upset; he was really excited about the game," Goorjian said.

Athletic wing Deng Adel also sat this one out as he continues his recovery from a quad issue. 

THE ROAD AHEAD

Round 2 - Thursday 21 January v Brisbane Bullets @ Nissan Arena, Brisbane

The Hawks remain on the road as a return to Brisbane to face the Bullets for the second time this season looms. It comes only days after The Hawks prevailed 90-84 in Saturday's season opener for both clubs.

A third straight win - while still missing key personel - would only further enhance the title credentials of this young side, but Harvey refused to get drawn into long term dreams.

“We’ve been all over the place, different cities, different hotels but for us its just about taking it one day at a time. And trying to get better each day. We're hoping to improve tomorrow better than we did today and I think that's gonna have to be our mentality. Like coach always tells us, don't worry about the score that’ll take care of itself," Harvey said.