Hawks Vow To Find Range

Illawarra co-captain Tyler Harvey has called on his side to implement the teachings of head coach Jacob Jackomas after the Hawks' opening round defeat to local rivals Sydney.

While Illawarra had little trouble scoring the ball – five different players all hit double digits against the reigning champions – the Kings won the game in an offensive shootout by scoring 106 points.

The Hawks begin proceedings in round two with a Thursday night home game against South East Melbourne before travelling west to take on Perth on Saturday night.

“Giving up 106 points is never good, especially when we pride ourselves on our defence,” Harvey said. “Jacob preaches that every single day so that’s on us as players to go out there every single day and implement what he’s telling us.

“Coming off a loss you always have that extra chip on your shoulder. We’ve had a great week at practice and guys are feeling good – we’re looking forward to playing.

“We got great film out of [the Sydney game] and things we need to work on throughout the year that I think will help as achieve the end goal.”

Harvey has come under fire for his individual performance against the Kings. Despite putting up 18 points he experienced trouble shooting from the field - he hit just six of his 19 shots, including just one of seven threes.

Fellow import Justin Robinson and star centre Sam Froling also shot poorly. The three of them combined for just 35 points on 14-59 shooting – a mark of just 27 per cent from the field.

Harvey says both he and the team have already moved on from the loss.

“You’ve got to move on quick in this league. Things come around quick, so there’s no need to dwell on it. We’ve watched film on it, we’ll move on from there and hopefully get a better result,” he said.

“You have to stay pretty stoic I think in sports in general, especially in basketball. You’ve got to move onto the next shot quick.

“If you hang onto it it could be a rough game, or two games, or three games. I never worry about that, but I just try to stay true to my routine.

“Justin’s a winner. We know if we don’t play to our standard we take accountability for that. Usually if the team goes, we go, so we have to lead that charge.

“You’ve got to stack these wins early, because at the end of the year things can get bogged down. These games become super important.”

See the boys take on South East Melbourne Phoenix at the WIN Entertainment Centre, purchase your tickets here.