Hawks run out of steam as 36ers power to victory

The Result

Illawarra Hawks 72 - Adelaide 36ers 84

The Story

It was another tough night for the Hawks as they ran into a more desperate and determined Adelaide outfit intent on protecting their home court - the 36ers snapping a five game skid to prevail 84-72.

The Hawks entered the game without star guard Tyler Harvey and former Boomer Cam Bairstow - and the lack of attacking spark showed for most of the contest as the Hawks were forced to grind out every offensive possession.

The opening few minutes were among the brightest for Illawarra - with AJ Ogilvy opening the scoring for the visitors when he pulled down a big offensive board and dropped the ball home. Emmett Naar then tipped in five early points that must have helped his confidence - the young guard earning his first start of the season for the injured Harvey.

A big cheer went around the stadium, and no doubt the NBL, when Dan Grida entered the game for the Hawks early on - the rising star returning from an ACL tear and tipping in his first points in over a year on his first shot attempt.

The 36ers were paced by ever-consistent big man Dan Johnson and returning phenom Josh Giddey though - and took a 21-17 lead into quarter time.

Naar continued his good play in the second term - finishing around the rim and getting to the free throw line in a performance coach Brian Goorjian would have been proud of. The diminutive guard notching 11 first half points as he and 'Next Star' Justinian Jessup (8) tried to keep the Hawks in touch.

The 36ers surged ahead through the play of Johnson, Giddey and Keanu Pinder though - opening up a 14 point break on the way to a 46-32 halftime lead.

Whatever Brian Goorjian said at halftime worked a treat for the Hawks as they put together a 22-4 run to open the second half and find themselves in front.

The big man tandem of Sam Froling and Ogilvy playing inspired basketball on both ends as Justin Simon also unleashed his own offensive onslaught. The 36ers seemingly starting to flounder under the immense defensive pressure from the visitors.

Adelaide finally managed to find it's mojo again through the unstoppable force of Johnson - and regained the lead as the game headed into the final stanza.

The fourth quarter was a cake walk for the 36ers as the Hawks seemingly ran out of ideas and the petrol tank hit empty.

Giddey confirming his standing as the rising star of Australian basketball with a near triple-double (13pts ,11reb ,8ast) as he kept the 36ers slim playoff hopes alive.

Illawarra going down 84-72 and dipping out of the top four in the process.

The Stats

The stats in this one weren't too dissimilar for both sides, but it was likely won and lost beyond the three point line, on the offensive glass and off the bench tonight.

The Hawks could only manage 6/24 from three at 25% while the 36ers knocked down 10/25 at 40%. The home side also managed to go 18/20 from the charity stripe, where the Hawks missed four freebies.

Neither bench put in a stellar performance but the 36ers did get 17 points out of their reserves. The Hawks could only add nine off the bench,

The Hawks had been one of the better rebounding teams going into this one but were outhustled and outmuscled on the glass 46-41. The 36ers tipping in 20 second chance points off 15 offensive boards. The visitors did manage more steals (8-6) and blocks (8-4) though.

The Fallout

"I thought the second half we did a pretty good job. There's no doubt these are hard times right now. Just the game of basketball with two pieces that we have missing...tonight, the combination of our interior target [Cam Bairstow], the guy we play off in the block and the guy who is our Casper Ware or Bryce Cotton [talking about Tyler Harvey] with this young group we went with was a big ask. I can't be hard on the guys," Coach Brian Goorjian said.

"Second half I thought we did a really good job but four minutes to go in that third quarter, the groups gassed, it's worn out. You know we got as much as we could out of Emmett tonight but he has a role with this team. To move from that role to having him on all the time, it's just too much," Goorjian said.

"I'm really hopeful with Tyler, really hopeful for that, and that is a key one. And Bairstow, [that's] a situation that I'll know more when I get back. There's process there but I'm feeling good and hopeful for Tyler...I think we were in the game in the third quarter, and having Emmett play the way he did I think this is gonna give him confidence. It gives him confidence, it gives me confidence that maybe we can play them [Naar and Harvey] together," Goorjian said.

"We're gonna have to move somebody along. I'm not messing with that anymore. I like that energy [of Dan Grida], He's rusty, he's fresh, he's alive, he's full of enrgy, he hasn't played in a game for a year, so there's a lot of excitement there. So we're just gonna have to wait and see what happens in the next four or five games to see who we move along...I just think right now, it's real obvious, Justin [Simon] and [Deng] Adel are struggling from the perimeter. so another guy that's athletic but maybe he can get that perimeter shot role" Goorjian said.

"It's a wait and see. The kid [Jessup] is unbelievable, he's special. But he wants to play in the NBA...I don't think he'll get defended like he gets defended here in the NBA. I think it's grooming him real nicely. We certainly hope to have him for the remainder of the year to give us a chance but if he got a callup to the [Golden State] Warriors everyone would tip their hat and wish him the best," Goorjian said.

"We need Tyler back and we want him back but it did feel good to get extra minutes tonight and feel a bit comfortable out there. Hopefully I can try and keep that comfortable-ness going forward. It's just about staying ready for whatever opportunity it is. Whether tonight and a lot of minutes or maybe less. I've got a role to play on the team. We want to get wins and play playoffs so whatever my role is I'm ready to do it," Emmett Naar said.

The Road Ahead

Round 12 – Wednesday 7 April at 7:30pm AEDT v Brisbane Bullets @ WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong.

The Hawks begin a three-game home stand against the side they blew off the court less than a week ago. The side will be hopeful of welcoming back Tyler Harvey and Cam Bairstow, but with three games in the space of five days next week, coach Brian Goorjian may give them a bit more recovery time.