Hawks Vs United Game Day Preview

Tip-off at the WIN Entertainment Centre is at 7.30pm.  Grab your tickets now 

It comes a surprise to hear Hawks livewire Will Hickey doesn’t like to think about the greatest single moment of his career.  

The rest of us get chills thinking about it. If you don’t, then you weren’t there. Those who were will never forget the put-back that sent game two of last year’s semi-final series against United into overtime, and ultimately a decider back in Melbourne. 

For all but the last fraction of the final second, the visitors looked certain to sweep the Hawks on their own floor, even as a triple-teamed Gary Clark went to the hoop for a Hail Mary.  

As it turned, ‘Davo’ proved the Hawks guardian angel, kissing an offensive rebound in off the glass and sending the game into OT. The only thing more remarkable than the play itself, was that the names ‘Saville’ ‘McLeod’ ‘Harmison’ didn’t fall down from rafters in the crowd eruption that followed.   

The Hawks never looked like losing from there but, as Hickey’s the first to point out, they did. In game three. It’s why a cloud hangs over his personal recollection of that memorable o-board. 

 “Whenever it pops up and I think about the moment, I get a quick sense of ‘damn that was awesome’, but then the thought of ‘man, we lost’ (the series) comes flooding back,” Hickey said. 

“Even though it was a split-second, that memory is still engrained in my head, how crazy that moment really was. It was a crazy moment to be a part of, it’s the only way to put it, but unfortunately we didn’t get it done (in game three).  

“That’s what I’m out here for this year, I really want to make up for that and get them back.” 

 Hickey and the Hawks will get their first chance at doing just when they host United for the first time in Wollongong since that overtime thriller last season this Thursday night. 

The hosts will head in flying high at a league-leading 5-1, while United will come in a wounded 4-3 on the back of a last-start ‘Throwdown’ defeat to the Phoenix on Sunday.

A win would see the Hawks move to 6-1, with wins over both last year’s grand finalists’ following a demolition of Tasmania in their last home outing, while the ledger also includes a road victory over title favourites Sydney. 

It’s a start that has largely scuppered questions as to whether lightning could indeed strike twice for Hawks coach Justin Tatum, or for Hickey, who took by far the biggest career strides under the then interim boss last season. 

The 25-year-old is now an indispensable cog in the Hawks rotation, averaging seven points, two assists and four rebounds at 50 per cent from the field this campaign after a breakout finals series in NBL24. 

It appears a rapid rise, but it’s been anything but for a guy forced to ply his trade on meagre development player earnings at three clubs before blossoming last season. 

“I always say, I’ve been around. It’s not this overnight success,” he said. 

“I feel like I’ve always had this ability, it’s just the opportunity that’s been given to me and being able to flourish under JT. All I ever wanted was for a coach to say, ‘I can see he’s got the talent, I’m going to put my trust in him’.  That’s all it took.  

“The only way you can genuinely see what value someone brings is by giving them an opportunity and JT gets that. At the end of the day, I’m a hooper and I feel like JT respected the fact I’m just a dog, I put my blood, my sweat and my tears into this game. He saw that and respected that as a hooper.”  

If revenge against the team that bundled them out of the title race last season wasn’t motivation enough, the Hawks will have the added incentive of getting up for Wani Swaka Lo Buluk’s 150th NBL game. 

The three-time NBL championship winner is another to have hit the ground running this season, with Tatum suggesting following last Saturday’s win over Cairns that the 23-year-old is already the front-runner for DPOY honour“He definitely needs to be in contention for Defensive Player of the Year in the league,” Tatum said. 

“He comes in and sets the tone, and he’s been doing over the course of the season so far. When (Wani) steps it up and takes on the challenge it ignites our team.” 

Tip-off at the WIN Entertainment Centre is at 7.30pm.  Grab your tickets now - https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/illawarra-hawks-tickets/artist/1055493