Hawks Vs SouthEast Melbourne Phoenix Game Review

Illawarra are always at short odds to respond to a loss under Justin Tatum. When skipper Tyler Harvey has a point to prove, the odds get even shorter.

Harvey did just that on Saturday night in the absence of injured point-guard Trey Kell, taking the game by the scruff of the neck in an 88-82 win that keeps the Hawks in top spot on the ladder at 6-2 on the campaign.

Tatum said a last gasp defeat to Melbourne in Wollongong on Thursday would “burn” for his side and Harvey clearly took it to heart after going 0-8 to start the clash with United less than 48 hours earlier.

It broke with his otherwise ruthless shooting efficiency this season, with Saturday’s win a return to that clip as 14 of his 22 points came in a third-quarter explosion that took the game away from the Phoenix.

It came at 6-8 from long range, while Harvey also had four rebounds and three assists as the Hawks continued an unbeaten start to the season on the road.

Darius Days also produced a timely return to form with 16 points and seven rebounds on 5-7 shooting, while Wani Swaka Lo Buluk added 13 points to his typically dogged defensive display.

Sam Froling had an understated 11 points and seven assists, with Will Hickey adding eight points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals in his start in place of the injured Kell.

It was a gritty win against a game outfit that had banked two on the bounce under interim coach Sam Mackinnon who was overseeing his last game before the arrival of incoming coach Josh King.

“JT said our goal is to not ever lose two in a row this year, and in order to do that you’ve got to come into a tough environment on the road off a back-to-back and find a way to win the game,” Harvey said.

“This league’s tough, every team’s good, there’s no nights off, so to come in here and get a win, we’re happy with it. They were in it the whole game, it was a battle back and forth. Credit to them, they played a great game, we just found a way to close it at the end.”

Better Days ahead.

Down a star, Tatum needed one of his big guns to step up and it was Days who put his hand up in a timely fashion with his side down 10 midway through the second term.

The 25-year-old big-man had seven of his 16 points in a 14-0 run for the visitors that turned a 10-point deficit into a four-point lead. He also pulled down seven boards in a bounce back after managing just seven points over his previous two outings.

Days isn’t the first import to take some time to find his feet in the NBL, but to be averaging 11 points and eight rebounds at 49 per cent from the field while doing so points to a bright future when the LSU alum really gets rolling.

“Darius is tough on himself because he had a couple of games he wished he could have played better, or played more in,” Tatum said.

“He challenges himself and we support him. I knew he was going to come out and have a big one today. He set the tone by defensively really locking in and once he starts making those threes he’s really hard to stop.”

The turning of the tide came after a decidedly sluggish start that was uncharacteristic of the Hawks this season, something Tatum said his team will need to address as it stares down the barrel of a brutal road back-to-back next week against Perth and Adelaide.

“The only way you become a championship team is if you can win on the road and we have to find ways to win games like this,” Tatum said.

“Our lack of momentum coming out in the first quarter was slow. It could be a mixture of things, a different line-up, it could be us playing 48 hours ago, but for us to become a championship team we have to fight through adversity.

“Guys got after each other and challenged each other on the bench to pick up that tempo, and they came and did it. Once we got to that second quarter and had 17 points in a four or five-minute span … that’s the Hawks team we’re accustomed to (being).

“As long as these guys acknowledge and see it, instead of it always being the coaching staff enforcing it, we’re on the right path.”

The Hawks will return home this week before travelling west to take on the Wildcats on Friday (November 1).