Hawks put Kings to the sword in comprehensive win

The Result

Illawarra Hawks 89 - Sydney Kings 69

The Story

It was a landmark 100th game between the two NSW clubs - and it was the Hawks who made sure it was a memorable one - putting the cleaners through the Kings on the way to an impressive 20-point victory.

It was the Hawks big men who set the tone early - Sam Froling and AJ Ogilvy getting it done on both ends of the floor as the Hawks came out playing Illawarra basketball built on stoic defence and high octane offence.

Jarell Martin and Froling were locked in a classic big man battle in the early stages - the pair trading baskets before Froling unleashed one of the biggest throw downs of the year.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WITH AUTHORITY ? <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/i6fYy5rMfz">pic.twitter.com/i6fYy5rMfz</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1369936591121121280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Hawks made life tough for the Kings main offensive threats early - and capitalised on the other end as first Froling and then Justinian Jessup landed three-pointers to give their side an early 17-7 lead.

Jessup in particular would have been happy to see the bottom of the net, the 'Next Star' only knocking down 2/13 from outside the arc in his last two contests.

The Kings managed to get it going late to deny the Hawks their first lead at quarter time in seven games - scores tied at 24-24 at the horn.

Jessup continued his good start in the second term - knocking down a pair of oh so sweet jumpers despite a rugged Kings defensive unit putting him under immense pressure.

More active defence from Cam Bairstow meant Deng Adel could get out in the open court and setup another huge jam from Froling - before Adel got a highlight reel slam of his own after another Jessup three.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Form is temporary, class is permanent <a href="https://twitter.com/Foreverdeng?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Foreverdeng</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/t10RO8cAJg">pic.twitter.com/t10RO8cAJg</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1369941728401104901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Hawks were clicking on both ends of the court - blocking four shots in the space of 15 first half minutes - with an unselfish mindset seeing the side equal the amount of assists it had against the Wildcats (11) before halftime.

Jessup and Froling finished the first half as they started it with more buckets as both men entered the main break with 13-points.

There wasn't much to write about to open the third term as both teams went ice cold from the field - a total of eight points scored in the opening six minutes of the quarter.

The Hawks eventually managing to open up a handy double digit lead after Adel landed a three, and Harvey put the ball in Froling's hand for another easy slam.

The Kings found themselves under more pressure as the fouls piled up - the Sydneysiders entering the penalty with four minutes remaining in the quarter as the Hawks extended their lead.

This thunderous dunk from Adel putting an exclamation mark on a dominant end to the quarter.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="in" dir="ltr">BANG BAAANG! <a href="https://twitter.com/Foreverdeng?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Foreverdeng</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/SQ0P621L7O">pic.twitter.com/SQ0P621L7O</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1369952731838869511?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Hawks outscoring the Kings 25-8 in the frame to blow the game wide open and lead 70-52 with one to play.

The fourth was a procession for the Hawks - Harvey, Jessup and Justin Simon registering a couple of baskets each before Brian Goorjian released his second unit to finish the game.

Emmett Naar flipped in a Harvey-esque floater, before Deng Deng banked in a long range three to rub salt into the Kings wound. Max Darling and Akoldah Gak earned some nice minutes down the stretch as the Hawks youngsters spread their wings. Gak even throwing down his first NBL points courtesy of a Deng assist.

Illawarra running away with an emphatic 89-69 win and cementing their place in the top four on the NBL ladder.

The Stats

The Hawks lead nearly all categories in the dominant victory.

Goorjian would be pleased his side shared the ball with the Hawks having 21 assists to the Kings 11. Illawarra also notching up five steals to three and five blocks to three as well.

The Hawks were uncharacteristly sloppy from the charity stripe (7/15 at 46%) but made up for it by shooting 52% from the field and 40% from three.

Froling was the chief destroyer and reconfirmed his standing as the most improved player in the NBL, dropping a career-high 20 points to go with six rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Harvey had a routine 17 points and handed out four assists, while back court partner in crime Jessup had an efficient 15 points, three assists and two blocks.

Simon chipped in nine points with two steals, Adel had nine points, five rebounds and Bairstow finished with eight points, six boards and a handful of assists.

The Fallout

"It was a real nice one tonight, real nice one tonight...the expectations at the start of the year were a little much and what you realise is it's a young team and it's resilient and it's gonna keep fighting," Illawarra Hawks coach Brian Goorjian said.

"Moving the ball like that and cutting like that is hard work and all the cornerstones were there tonight and then we talk about the young team. The young guy standing next to me, they started with two bigs and they went right down to the block to start the game. Sam's role was huge, for the young man to perform like that was a big one early in his career," Goorjian said.

"We talked about stop reaching, put your chest on em, show your hands and keep em off the foul line. I made it clear after the Perth game, I'm not talking about the referees, I've been yelling at my team...play defence without fouling. You get in there and start reaching, grabbing and holding, that's a sign of laziness," Goorjian said.

"He's [Jessup] being targeted and we're being scouted now. The first three or four games are over and he knows what he can do and they're all over him. I thought tonight we made him a moving target, it wasn't stationary where he's standing and we look to go to him right away...he got shots in transition, he got shots when the ball got swung and they had to rotate and they didn't know where he was. It really freed him up when we moved the basketball. I think the guy's gonna be a pro and I think he's gonna be a really special player," Goorjian said. 

"Tyler and Justinian get so much attention it's starting to free me up a bit. When we're moving the ball like that I get easy shots and get rolling a little bit. I'm sure there'll be other games where other guys step up, Tyler and Justinian aren't gonna win it all for us so we need other people to step up," Hawks big man Sam Froling said.

"I've had a couple of dodgy games and he believes in me and keeps putting me in that starting lineup and I came out tonight and proved I probably deserve it," Froling said.

The Road Ahead

Round 9 NBL Cup – Saturday March 13 at 8pm v Melbourne United @ John Cain Arena, Melbourne

It's the final game of the NBL Cup and it comes against league ladder leaders and hometown team Melbourne United. It will also mark Goorjian's 750th game as a coach in the NBL.

The Hawks may be out of contention for the NBL Cup but they will be attempting to play the spoiler against the side many predicted to do the Cup/League double in United - who will need to beat the Hawks on Saturday if they are any chance of claiming the inaugural NBL Cup title.

Last time these two teams met it was the Victorian outfit that claimed a closely-fought contest 91-88 at the WIN Entertainment Centre in Round 5.