Illawarra’s new year’s resolution

Illawarra’s new year’s resolution will be to make a return to the winners’ circle after South East Melbourne spoiled the Hawks traditional New Year’s Eve party on Tuesday. 

In a clash between the two form teams of the league, the Phoenix set the tone early and saw off multiple comebacks from the hosts to prevail 110-105. 

It was the Hawks second loss in as many outings against the Phoenix, who handed Justin Tatum’s team its previous defeat ahead of the 5-0 run it took into its home return on Tuesday. 

It was the third consecutive game in which the Hawks trailed by double digits in the first half, but the typical late surge fell short, perhaps feeling the pinch at the end of a fourth game in 10 days. 

Tatum’s never been in the excuses business, but there’s no question there were signs of weariness in the four final-term turnovers that doubled their tally to that point. For his part, Tatum agreed with counterpart Josh King’s assertion that the Phoenix wanted it more down the stretch. 

“It was just our attention to detail, small things, careless turnovers late,” Tatum said. 

“We only had three turnovers going into the half, four going into the fourth quarter and ended up with eight. It was the same way we lost to them last time, just careless turnovers at important times. I'm not going to say it’s fatigue, we just got complacent at those times. 

“They’re a really good team, they don't need any extra momentum or shots.  

“We scored 66 points in the paint to their 48, we shot 15 more shots. It’s nothing that we didn't do right [to win], it’s when we did things wrong that kind of helped get them over the hump.”  

It was a disappointing end to an otherwise stellar December, but the Hawks had their key contributors. After a slow start, skipper Tyler Harvey finished with 20 points at 7-14, including a heads’ up steal and buzzer-beating lay-up to cut the margin back to one at the half. 

Star guard Trey Kell was well handled by one of his former teams, going 1-6 from long-range in his 16 points and two assists, while Sam Froling had 18 points, six rebounds and four assists. 

Will Hickey also provided a key contribution from the bench with eight of his 18 points coming in a third-quarter surge that kept his team within reach of victory, while Darius Days contributed 12 points and six rebounds. 

Still plenty of wind in Hawks sails 

While he was disappointed with the late slip-ups, Tatum cut a measured figure in the aftermath, confident the loss was not one that could derail the run his team has put together. 

“We wanted to have an undefeated record through December, but I'd rather be undefeated in March,” he said.

“It would be different if we’d lost five in a row and this would have been another, but we had a good stretch in December. It's been five really tough wins [in a row]. 

“At the end of the day this month gave us life and hope within a group to say, ‘hey, we are one of the best teams in the league’.  

“I'm not taking this loss lightly, but I'm not harping on it or being too upset because we did play a solid game all around. We just have to finish it. I’m glad we play [again] Friday, so we can hopefully fix our mistakes.” 

Not too many home comfor 

The loss was the first in a much-needed run of four straight games at home, but the Hawks will need to be wary of slipping too far into a comfort zone ahead of Friday’s showdown with Cairns. 

“Everybody's dealing with different situations, families in town for people and holidays, and we can kind of relax,” Tatum said. 

“We talked about that in the locker room, to try to maintain that [intensity], not get lackadaisical or just not coming out here and putting forth our full effort. We’ve just got to do a better job of that and it starts with me.”  

Import big-man Darius Days said a tough schedule’s not something the playing group will lean on.

“We don't have any excuses in here,” Days said. 

“If you play tomorrow, you play the next day, it shouldn't matter. You’ve got to go out there and win games regardless of the schedule or any situation. [If] family’s in town, holidays, it doesn't matter. Regardless of the timing, [we need to] win games.”  

Tip-off against Cairns at the WEC on Friday is at 7.30pm