Hawks Vs Taipan's Post Game Wrap

A clinic from skipper Tyler Harvey saw the Hawks scrap to an 87-75 road win over Cairns on Saturday, the win taking coach Justin Tatum’s team 5-1 and at the top of the ladder heading back to Wollongong to take on Melbourne United on Thursday.

The Hawks went into the showdown averaging 104 points a game at an impressive 50 per cent from the field, but Saturday’s win over a game Taipans bucked the trend as the visitors logged their lowest tally of the season at an untidy 42 per cent from the field.

It was a departure from previous outings, but coach Justin Tatum welcomed the hard graft.

“We wish we could win all our games by 40-50 points, everybody wants that, but we know we were coming in here for a dog fight against Cairns, against a Fordey (Adam Forde-coached) team, that’s what you’re going to have,” Coach Tatum said.

“To win where we didn’t have a big margin, or a big first quarter lead, was something different from us this year, so it was definitely good for us to enjoy having a battle-tested grind like this.

“To come here to Cairns (and win) helps build our confidence going into next week with Melbourne and South East (Melbourne).”

On night where a stubborn ball was determined not to go through the net for either team, Harvey shone with 20 points, four rebounds and three assists, but it is the skipper’s efficiency that should really turn heads, and beg the question:

Could T-Raw’s best NBL season still be in front of him?

Harvey’s reputation as a relentless scoring force and clutch performer is well-earned, but there are plenty who felt the long-tenured skipper’s days as an MVP candidate were behind him.

They may have jumped the gun given the 31-year-old is shooting at a career-high efficiency, albeit through still early days this season. He went into Saturday’s game shooting a 49 per cent clip on the season.

The myriad of offensive weapons that have the Hawks averaging 100+ points through the opening five games have clearly allowed the former MVP runner-up to be more considered in his shot selection.

His 20 points on Saturday came at 61 per cent from the field, with five of his seven first-half points coming in the final 31 seconds to take the lead on the buzzer. That he could do it in just 26 minutes on the floor, and not the relentless 30-plus he’s been forced to log in recent seasons bodes well as the campaign progresses.

Second unit comes up big in hard grind

Depth is essential in the NBL and you can make the case no one has more of it at his disposal than Tatum this season.

Harvey’s masterclass aside, Illawarra were down in a host of categories on Saturday night. Trey Kell endured a tough shooting night at 4-15 (though seven dimes weren’t too shabby) while Darius Days was limited to just two points and 13 minutes on the floor before fouling out.

Co-skipper Sam Froling had just six points through three and a half quarters, yet the Hawks still found a way to dominate 42-24 in the paint, with Lachlan Olbrich grabbing 10 points and five boards in his 22.55 on the floor.

Will Hickey continues to build an early Sixth Man of the Year platform, finishing with nine points five assists and four rebounds. His ‘play to the buzzer’ mentality played a huge role in the Hawks heading into halftime in front despite surrendering an early lead, with two key boards, two buckets and two dimes in the final 2.30 of the second term.

“We’ll take it however it comes, but the depth of our group is the most special part of this team because we had guys either foul out or in early foul trouble and we had other guys step up,” Tatum said.

“That’s what I was most impressed about, how I was able to play both of my bigs down the stretch and, defensively, nothing dropped, we were able to get some consistent rebounds.

“Trey and Tyler did their thing, Davo (Hickey) and Swaka were incredible on (Rob) Edwards and (Pedro) Bradshaw, and being able to extend the lead a bit through the last three to five minutes was big for us.”

The Hawks head home to Sandpit this coming Thursday to take on Melbourne United for the first time since fighting out an epic semi-final series last season.