Hawks triumph over United on Goorjian's monumental night

The Result

Illawarra Hawks 77 - Melbourne United 69

The Story

It was a night Brian Goorjian and the Illawarra Hawks won't forget in a hurry.

A come-from-behind win over NBL ladder leaders and title favourites - Melbourne United - on their home floor - and on the same night Goorjian made his 750th NBL coaching appearance.

It was the Hawks that bounced out of the blocks in better shape - the men from the Illawarra happy to share the ball around and seeing four different scorers registering a bucket in the opening few minutes.

Justin Simon remained in the starting lineup at the expense of Deng Adel and showed everyone why he's a dual threat in this league with a nice steal and slam early on.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Two way threat ? <a href="https://twitter.com/simon_Says_so?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@simon_Says_so</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/CyJvt0IUtw">pic.twitter.com/CyJvt0IUtw</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1370669553298993153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Hawks second unit of Adel, Deng Deng, Cam Bairstow and Emmett Naar soon entering the game  - with United taking advantage and wrestling their way back into the lead.

Bairstow made back-to-back trips to the foul line with United entering the penalty with a couple of minutes to go - with 'The Bear' knocking down all four shots.

United taking a 21-20 lead into the first break.

Big man Sam Froling picked up where he left off last game early in the second with a nice basket to open his account - before Harvey and Justinian Jessup knocked their first triples of the afternoon.

The Hawks going on an 8-0 run with this huge bomb from Harvey handing his side a 35-33 lead and blowing the socks off the fans in the stands at John Cain Arena.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">??? <a href="https://twitter.com/YoungTRaaw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YoungTRaaw</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/gPNVvvsamA">pic.twitter.com/gPNVvvsamA</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1370675674638282752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

A few defensive lapses making life easy for United on the other end though - the title favourites surging late to win the quarter and take a 43 - 38 lead into the sheds.

The third quarter began in fine fashion as both side's traded baskets at will - Froling and Harvey continuing their good form until a bizzare offensive foul call on Harvey had the potential to derail the Hawks.

Another Goorjian coach's challenge was denied - but it didn't stop the Hawks as Jessup filled it from three before his fellow Splash Brother Harvey drove and dropped in a highlight reel play.

The Hawks staying in touch with United - down by four at the final break.

The start of the last quarter was all Illawarra - the Hawks going on a 9-0 run to open the frame and take the lead for the first time since midway throught the second term.

United struggled to create any easy offensive opportunites as the Hawks defenders clamped down and made life tough - before Bairstow dropped in another mid range jumper to extend the lead to five with six to play.

The final few minutes were a ding dong battle between two heavyweights of the competition - with Jock Landale powering home a monster dunk to bridge the gap to one, before Harvey went bang, bang to push the lead back out to six with a little over a minute left.

A messy piece of play from both sides ended when Bairstow found himself open under the hoop to hammer home a Hawks victory. Illawarra managing to keep Melbourne to nine final quarter points and runaway with a 77-69 win.

The Stats

Like your favourite record in the 80s - Tyler Harvey got a lot of play again tonight. He topscored for the Hawks with 23 points but also chipped in with six boards and four assists.

Cam 'The Bear' Bairstow continued his resurgence and provided good punch off the bench with 15 points, while 'Next Star' Justinian Jessup had 13 points and six rebounds.

Skipper AJ Ogilvy pitched in with eight points and a handful of boards, Justin Simon had six points, five rebounds and a pair of steals, while second-year big man Sam Froling dropped six points and pulled down five boards.

Deng Deng had another handy game with four points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal.

The Fallout

"I was thinking about it today, after I became aware of it [750th NBL game as coach]. It's funny how I'm feeling, it feels like everything is brand new and I'm experiencing everything for the first time. 750 is a long time but again the emotion I had for this game had nothing to do with that. It was more about, I thought it was D day for our group. the challenge of what we've been through for the length of time and playing a team like Melbourne tonight at 8pm on their court after they've lost two, rested and ready...I know they've got that competitive spirit that was questioned in the Perth game and tonight again I brought that to their attention," coach Brian Goorjian said.

"I'm walking out of here tonight going back to the Gong [Wollongong] and I feel like the team has backed up their promise to the community when Illawarra became the name. The guy sitting next to me [AJ Ogilvy] is sitting here for a reason as well. He's been through a lot, he's stood by it and he's responsible...his one role as captain is to make sure the team stays together and they are ready to go on gameday. I've told the guys, head up, chest up when we get back to the community," Goorjian said.

"They [Harvey and Jessup] have to be moving targets. We have to get the ball pushed and we have to get the ball side to side. I thought after the loss to Perth we've done a better job of that...we're learning how to play in this. It's hard to get free when the defence is set. Tonight we were not perfect by any stretch, they put a lot of pressure on us, they made scores very difficult but on the flipside we did the same. Those two guys are getting to understand the competition and how to get shots in what we do," Goorjian said.

"We've always had belief in ourselves, we always knew we were a talented group, that Perth game was an outlier that really stung. We watched video and we talked about it and we knew that wasn't us. We knew we had to come out as a group and play together. We came and wanted to make amends. Tonight we stuck together as a group, we really battled, it's a credit to our group to turn it around in such a short window and get two big wins on the back end," captain AJ Ogilvy said.

The Road Ahead

Round 10 – Sunday March 21 at 3pm v Melbourne United @ John Cain Arena, Melbourne.

It's finally a return to normal programming (kind of) for the Hawks as the NBL season properly recommences after the nearly month-long NBL Cup.

Hawks fans will have to wait a little bit longer to see their side in action at home though, with a trip back down to Melbourne to face United for the third time this season next on the cards.

Both side's are currently sitting inside the NBL top four and with the season almost at its midpoint, every game from here on out will in someway shape the playoff picture.