Hawks seek first-ever win against JackJumpers

Saturday looms crucial in the chase for semi-final spots, as fourth takes on sixth and third battles fifth.

The former will see the Illawarra Hawks travel to Tasmania for the fourth time this season to take on the JackJumpers at Launceston’s Silverdome.

A win by the Hawks, who have lost both the previous meetings against the NBL new boys, can see them move as high as third but a loss can see them fall to fifth.

Brian Goorjian’s side comes into the round 16 full of confidence, winning six of their past eight, including a last-start victory against the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

The two losses during that stretch were against the JackJumpers, who have won their last three games.

A win to Tasmania in this game will secure their first series clean sweep in franchise history. 

A loss by the Hawks will be the first time they have been swept in a series by any team since Goorjian became coach at the start of last season. 

During the previous two encounters, Duop Reath has averaged 18.5ppg against Tasmania at 62 per cent shooting and is coming off a 22-point, 12 rebound game-winning performance against the Phoenix on Thursday. 

18.5ppg is Reath’s best against any team in his debut season. 

On Thursday, Illawarra scored a new season-high 103 points at 53 per cent from the field and led from start to finish.

It was the highest score by Illawarra in the 59 games they have played under Goorjian. 

The JackJumpers are 10-9 losses after 19 games played which already is more wins than the last expansion team won in a complete season (Phoenix has nine wins in 2020).

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Goorjian has lost the first two games of a season against an expansion team for the first time in his career with his first two losses against Tasmania.

His first season as NBL coach with the Eastside Melbourne Spectres in 1988 coincided with the debut of the Sydney Kings that he split his results 1-1 against.

Since then he has seen the Rollers, Suns, Razorbacks, Taipans, Victoria Giants, Breakers, Pirates, Slingers, Dragons, Blaze and now the JackJumpers but this season is the first time he had lost his first two games against any new franchise. 

The JackJumpers’ three-point shooting against the Hawks has been incredible and a long way above what they have shot against any other team this season, hitting 36 from 80 (45 per cent) during the two clashes.

This is the eighth game played at the Silverdome in Launceston and the first that doesn’t feature the New Zealand Breakers who called Launceston home for six games last season and was the JackJumpers opponent in round 14. 

A fortnight ago at the Silverdome, Tasmania beat the Breakers 66-62 in what was the lowest-scoring game of NBL22.

Both teams struggled from long range with New Zealand 5-from-33 and Tasmania shot just 3-from-27 threes after missing their first 17 attempts broken by Jock Perry on their 18th try.  

In the previous seven games at the Silverdome, it has proven to be the toughest venue to make a three-pointer with the stats showing just 26.8 per cent success rate by all teams. 

Last year, the Hawks played the Breakers at the Silverdome in round 16 and won 75-67 thanks to 29 points from Tyler Harvey (21 in the first half) who shot 3/9 threes while the rest of the Hawks were 0/6 combined.    

One to keep an eye on for the hosts will be Matt Kenyon, as his side is 8-1 since he moved into the starting five.

When Kenyon replaced Sam McDaniel into the starters in round nine, they went on a season-best four-game win streak before a loss at Phoenix and a win at Wollongong.

Kenyon then missed two games with a hand injury which Tasmania lost both and since his return, they have returned to the winners’ list against New Zealand, Cairns and Illawarra. 

Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel.