Hawks prepare for LifeChanger Cup showdown with United

Fresh off two huge wins in round 16, against South East Melbourne and Tasmania, the Illawarra Hawks will face their toughest challenge in weeks on Sunday.

The Hawks will travel down to John Cain Arena to take on reigning champions Melbourne United - in game two of the NBL22 LifeChanger Cup.

Since the pair's first meeting this season, in which Dean Vickerman's side won 88-84 on January 16. the Hawks are 9-6, while United are 9-3 - to see them sit atop the rankings after 16 rounds.

A large reason for that is Melbourne's number two's offence (89.1 points/game) this season - more than one point better than the third-placed Hawks (87.8).

United are also ranked one spot higher than the Hawks (second to third) in rebounding 43.8 to 43.2 per contest, but lead the league in assists per game with 18 (compared to 15.3 for Illawarra). 

Thanks to Jo Lual-Acuil (2.42), United also is the top shot-blocking side in the league with 5.9/game, with the Hawks in second at 4.7 - behind 1.48 by Duop Reath.

Brian Goorjian's troops rank higher in the steals category than Sunday's opponents though, with 7.1 compared to 6.7, as well as turnovers (9.7 to 13.4) - which is a league-best mark.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Our boys <a href="https://twitter.com/xrm_22?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@xrm_22</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/DuopReath?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DuopReath</a> doin&#39; work??<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreIllawarra?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/CsZEYeRw1n">https://t.co/CsZEYeRw1n</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1506115885358284803?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 22, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sunday's match-up will also pit Boomers Reath up against Chris Goulding and Matthew Dellvedova - who all won a bronze medal together in Tokyo.

"As a group, we're happy with our progress but taking this thing one game at a time and not looking too far down the road," said Goorjian, who will be replaced by interim head coach Jacob Jackomas on the sidelines on Sunday.

"We know going on the road against an organisation like Melbourne is going to be a tough challenge but this is why we play the game and I have full faith in our squad to get the job done on Sunday."

Perth product Reath, in his first in the NBL, is averaging 14.62 points and 7.1 rebounds for the foundation club, while Goulding and Dellavedova are posting 14.83 and 10.75 points per game respectively.

The other two United talents the Hawks will need to keep an eye on are MVP contender Lual-Acuil (16.84 points and 9.37 boards per game, while shooting 54 per cent from the field) and young gun Jack White (9.44 points and 6.94 rebounds).

Tasked with slowing down those Melbourne dangermen with be the likes of Antonius Cleveland and Tyler Harvey, who sit in fourth and fifth place respectively in steals/game at 1.9 and 1.57.

Those two will also have the scoring load on their shoulders, along with Sam Froling, Justinian Jessup and Xavier Rathan-Mayes.

Californian guard Harvey has started to rediscover his mojo from last season, scoring in double-figures in five of the team's past seven matches.

On the other hand, Southeast Missouri State alum Cleveland has reached double-figures in all of the Hawks' past five matches, including an equal season-high 22 against Tasmania on Saturday.

Sunday's match, between first and fourth, tips off at 3pm AEDT and will be broadcast on 10 Peach, ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel.