Ogilvy's Hawks eager for Kings showdown in Wollongong

It's been the better part of a month since we played a competitive game: it's fair to say we're hungry for Thursday's clash with the Kings.

We were really building towards the game last weekend to see where we're at, and we had our schedule built around peaking for that game, so to have that cancelled at the last minute was obviously disappointing.

Fortunately, we were able to get some more practice in ahead of our game against Sydney this week in Wollongong, but I know the guys are so excited to get back on the court and play a game.

It feels like forever since we've been out there.

As we expected, our first couple of days back at training weren't our best, but coach Goorjian really put a focus on making sure we came out better than when we went in.

To be honest, we weren't really playing our best basketball before we were forced into this break.

The first few days were a bit rusty, but after that, the guys have been really locked in and the ball is really moving on the offensive end.

I'm looking forward to getting out there and showing what we've been up to in our forced break.

But everyone talks about game fitness and I felt like we got to a point where we had built up some resistance and everyone was fit in a game sense, and then we had our enforced break.

We're trying to replicate game intensity, but there is nothing that replaces that fatigue you feel during a game. But the boys are hyped and I don't doubt that we'll be bouncing off the walls come Thursday night.

There was a lot of lip service and chat ahead of our last game with the Kings, but we went up there and won.

We knew they were a little undermanned, but we also didn't play our best basketball either, so we're looking forward to a better match down here.

I don't think the rivalry is playing as much in guys' minds as just wanting to get back out on the basketball court and play a game - that's a big focus for us.

Coming back to Wollongong is huge and the way that the schedule has changed is crazy. Before the season, we talked about playing seven of our first nine games at home.

I know that those days would be done by now, but here we are, playing our second game at home.

The constant evolution of this schedule is tough to keep up with and frustrating for the fans, just as it is for us.

But to be able to get back on a home is exciting and we need the support of our fans.

We know that it's a bit of a dicey situation, COVID-wise, at the moment, but we appreciate everyone that comes out to games.

We know there's a string of games here and we need to win them to be in a position to compete for a finals spot.

So hopefully we can get a huge crowd out to these coming games.

Tickets for the Hawks’ upcoming 'Festival of Hoops' clashes are able via Ticketmaster.