Ogilvy's Hawks ready to rebound after challenging weekend

It was an interesting weekend for the Illawarra Hawks.

Friday night was a draining encounter, a double-overtime win over the Breakers.

I'm sure it was an entertaining match for the fans, but it put us on the back foot for Sunday's clash with the Bullets in Brisbane.

An extra 10 minutes of basketball might not sound like a lot, but when it comes at the end of a physical contest, the toll of those minutes is even greater.

There was very little time to rest and recover and we paid the price by losing our first game of the season.

The challenge now is to put that result behind us and turn our focus to South East Melbourne.

We played a below-strength South East Melbourne side in the pre-season and that was a tough contest and we're not expecting anything different at the WEC on Thursday night.

The Phoenix are one of the competition heavyweights this year and we need a big performance to prove we belong in that conversation as well.

That needs to start from the opening tip as we won't get away with another poor start this week.

Coach Goorjian has put together a good game plan and if we come out with energy on defence and make our shots, hopefully that will be enough to get us over the line.

A win over South East Melbourne will make for an even more enjoyable Christmas break, the guys able to enjoy a few days off knowing we took care of business on our home court.

A loss, however, would result in a long eight days before our rivalry clash with the Kings on New Year's Eve.

Coach has given the guys a few days off this weekend to see our family, turn our focus to something other than basketball and really appreciate everything that comes with Christmas in Australia.

Many guys will be travelling away from Wollongong, but for those staying, Tyler Harvey has extended an open invitation for lunch at his place.

This is how Christmas should be and I would not support a move to playing NBL matches on Christmas Day.

It is the biggest day of the NBA season over in America, but Australia is a different country and it would likely be less successful here.

We don't have that culture of attending sporting events and watching sport on Christmas Day. It's a day for family and a day to take a break from not just basketball but work in general.

Even Boxing Day games are not ideal because it means training on Christmas Day. That would prevent players with family living in different cities from going back home.

Moving forward, I hope the league respects the players' desire to spend an important day with those who matter most, our families.

Tickets for the Hawks' second home game against the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Thursday, December 23 at the WIN Entertainment Centre are available via Ticketmaster.