Hawks streak ends at hands of fired-up Phoenix

The Result

Hawks 82 – SE Melbourne Phoenix 98

The Story

The Hawks winless run against the newest team in the NBL continued after being outhustled, outmuscled and outplayed by a determined Phoenix lineup in Melbourne this afternoon.

The game's opening term proving to be The Hawks best with Cam Bairstow returning to the lineup and going a perfect 4/4 off the bench to end the first quarter with 9 points. Skipper AJ Ogilvy - still sporting a nice shiner from an errant elbow last time out - doing some of his best work on the other end to continue The Hawks defensive dominance this season.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DENIAL feat. <a href="https://twitter.com/AJ_Ogilvy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AJ_Ogilvy</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/x2FTjuOwCn">pic.twitter.com/x2FTjuOwCn</a></p>&mdash; Hawks Basketball (@thehawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/thehawks/status/1358269239577120771?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

From there, things took a downward turn for one of the league's only undefeated side.

The Phoenix got busy on the offensive glass, with their defensive presure forcing The Hawks into turnover upon turnover.

A third quarter blitz from three-point specialist Cam Gliddon put paid to any thoughts of a second half comeback, with Gliddon dropping five three's in the space of eight minutes to push the Phoenix out to a 19-point three quarter time lead.

Form there they controlled proceedings - the dominant four quarter performance by the South East Melbourne side a timely reminder for Brian Goorjian's men that there are no easy games in #NBL21.

"We're gonna get everyone's best shot. These teams aren't coming in half asleep like previous years saying "these guys are an easybeat". We've kind of set a trademark from the start and now we're getting teams that are energised and pumped," Goorjian said.

Hawks wing Deng Deng disappointed with his side's lack or ugency on both ends of the floor.

"We'll obviously go look at the videos and the tape and see our mistakes. Like coach said, today wasn't us. As far as playing defence and our rotations, it wasnt as good as it was the first four games. We need to correct ourselves and hopefully bounce back on Wednesday [when The Hawks tackle Melbourne United]," Deng said.

Coach Goorjian's homecoming - and The Hawks unblemished season record - ruined by a more desperate and determined Phoenix outfit.

"I was trying to enjoy and I was really excited about the opportunity today. There were a lot of players feeling the same thing who are from Melbourne and had family here. For me this is home, this is where it all started and it's a great basketball area and a great basketball culture in South East Melbourne," Goorjian said.

The 16-point defeat bringing The Hawks unbeaten run to an end, but also ending their time on the road is over as well.

The Hawks will now head back to the WIN Entertainment Centre for Wednesday's clash with table-toppers Melbourne United.

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The Stats

The performances of bench duo of Deng Adel (17pts, 2reb, 2ast) and Cam Bairstow (15pts, 6reb, 1blk) add a silver lining to the loss - with the pair both playing meaningful minutes as they continue to recover from injuries.

Sharpshooting pair Tyler Harvey and Justinian Jessup were well held by the Phoenix. Harvey was efficient with 13 points, while Jessup could only add 9, with the pair only managing 20 shots between them.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Justinian GETSUP!<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/tgP5lE7c2a">pic.twitter.com/tgP5lE7c2a</a></p>&mdash; Hawks Basketball (@thehawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/thehawks/status/1358275707604930564?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Young big man Sam Froling continues his good start to the season with a near double double (7pts, 11reb), while Deng Deng had another well-rounded game with 8 points, 5 rebounds and 2 dimes.

"The ball movement wasn't as crisp, we sat on the ball a lot more, quick shotted a lot more, we were on defence a lot more because of the quick shots. They smashed us on the glass and they shot a very high eprcentage so that was a big concern,” Goorjian said.

The Casualty Ward

Former Boomers big man Cam Bairstow returned to the court tonight after a two game absence, getting through 14 minutes and putting up his best performance of the season.

"Even in the fourth quarter I played Cam [Bairstow] as much as I could tonight. He was on restrictions minutes wise and I thought he got out of it good. I though Adel was rusty. He shoots the ball better than this...he's really good at pushing the ball and getting out of the break and he defends better. The offensive side isn't quite there and it's impacting the other side," Goojian said.

"On a coaching standpoint I probably struggled a little bit. We've added two guys to the rotation [Adel and Bairstow] so there's an adjustment there...there's a little bit more to it than I thought. You wanna run this set or that set and then you think "oh god they've never played together before", there's a process to that as well and that falls on the coaching staff," Goorjian said.

Dan Grida (leg) and Lachie Dent (shoulder) have both been practicing with the team in the hope of a return to the lineup in the near future. 

The Road Ahead

Round 5 – Wednesday 10 February at 7:30pm v Melbourne United @ WIN Entertainment Centre

The Hawks finally return to Wollongong for their first home game of the season and who better to welcome into 'The Nest' than league powerhouse Melbourne United.

"On Wednesday night on our home court we'll be playing, regardless of records, the best team that's played in the league in a long while. It's a really big challenge. When you look at that team play, when you look at them on paper, it's as talented a team as I will have been coaching against in my time in the league so it presents a real challenge," Goorjian said.

"Every time you turn the corner...every team in the is competition is good. Wherever we go, whoever we play, it's gonna be a tough game and you gotta play well to win," Goorjian said.

Tickets are on sale for the first Hawks home game of the season against Melbourne United and can be purchased here.