Phoenix rise up over the Hawks for the second time this season

The Result

Illawarra Hawks 76 - South East Melbourne Phoenix 93

The Story

The Hawks hoodoo with the Phoenix continued this afternoon after a sluggish opening term cost Illawarra any chance of their first ever win over the NBL's newest franchise at John Cain Arena.

It was the Phoenix who burst out of the blocks - opening up an early lead courtesy of some hot shooting and several trips to the charity stripe. Keifer Sykes may have been sitting this one out but Kyle Adnam was just as influential, setting up several buckets and causing the Hawks defence plenty of misery.

It was a spluttering and stuttering opening frame for the Hawks as the Wollongong-based outfit could only manage a season-low 13-points on 35% shooting at the first horn. Deng Deng and Justin Simon the only bright lights with a couple of buckets each as the Phoenix took a 25-13 lead into the break.

Justinian Jessup looked to find himself in early foul trouble - with the 'Next Star' adjudged to have picked up his third personal only a minute into the second quarter. It wasn't until coach Brian Goorjian questioned the referees that of those fouls was rightly rescinded, allowing Jessup to return to the action.

Captain AJ Ogilvy continued his fine form on both ends of the court - a huge block leading to a much-needed long-range three from Tyler Harvey. Within seconds, Harvey strode back down the floor and dropped another as the Hawks cut the lead to seven.

This offensive onslaught seemed to rev up the Hawks defensive intensity as they forced some turnovers from the Phoenix. It was only some Mitch Creek magic that kept them from wrestling their way to the front, the Phoenix marquee man dropping 19 first half points to keep the lead at eight heading into the sheds.

The Hawks started the second half with the right intentions, Justin Simon grabbing a big offensive board to drop in two more points before AJ Ogilvy denied Mitch Creek at the rim in another massive defensive play.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Met him at the top ? <a href="https://twitter.com/AJ_Ogilvy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AJ_Ogilvy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/FdbTHsObgS">pic.twitter.com/FdbTHsObgS</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1365881366324252673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Am offensive surge from the Phoenix blew the lead out to as many as 14 midway through the third though, as everytime the Hawks crept their way closer, the Phoenix had an answer. Cam Gliddon was one of the key detroyers last time these two teams met - and he started heating up again as the Phoenix's slick ball movement had the Hawks at sixes and sevens.

Not even a monstrous slam from Sam Froling could change the momentum as the Phoenix stretched their lead to 18 with one quarter to play.

Cam Bairstow erupted to life early in the fourth - three straight buckets and a block kickstarting one last run from the Hawks. But ultimately it was the Phoenix's ability to get to the line and take care of the ball that earned them the win as they ran out comfortable 17-point winners

It's the Hawks fifth loss in their last seven games - and they are now 1-3 at the NBL Cup.

The Stats

The Hawks actually didn't shoot the ball too bad. They were 41% from the field and 36% from beyond the arc compared to the Phoenix's 45% and 33% respectively. The free throw count was astounding though, the Victorian side heading to the line an eye-watering 30 times to the Hawks seven.

The Hawks outrebounded the Phoenix 48-36 and had six blocks to two swats for the Phoenix. The Phoenix took care of the ball better (9 turnovers to the Hawks 16) and shared it around more (23 assists to the Hawks' 16).

There weren't too many stat sheets to write home about.

Tyler Harvey had a game-high 14-points for Illawarra. Justin Simon filled the box score with 13 points, six rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block.

Deng Deng continued to make the most of his minutes with 10-points and was one of the only Hawks to strike a blow in the first half.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="in" dir="ltr">Deng BANG ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/RXrMOvtJsB">pic.twitter.com/RXrMOvtJsB</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1365871689679048709?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Cam Bairstow overcame a slow start to drop 10 points and grab five boards, while Deng Adel had eight points and seven rebounds.

Golden State Warriors draftee Justinian Jessup was well held offensively but contributed in other ways (7pts, 6reb, 4ast) while Sam Froling provided a few highlights in his seven point, six rebound game.

The Fallout

"We were beat and we were beat good. I think we had that good start and now everybodies coming at us hard. We lost a couple of close ones to Cairns and Brisbane that's just affected us a little bit. I've tried to keep my mouth shut during this but a huge factor for us is keeping that fouling down. Those four wins, our defence was keeping the opposition off the foul line. Today...30 free throws to seven, all of a sudden we're a different team when we get here? I dont think so. I've tried to work the sideliens a bit and work that out but I was really disappointed tonight," Brian Goorjian said.

"They outplayed us, they beat us, we had a bad start. But I've gotta figure out how they call certain things and instruct our guys at practice how to play things. Like when a guy drives to the rim, what are you allowed to do? Can you put your chest on a guy and keep your hands high? Do you try to keep in front and keep your hands up? Off the ball, can you put your arms around a guy? Put your hands on a guy? I've been out of the comp for twelve years and I thought I had this right but I've been frustrated with what I'm telling my team to do and how it's being called," Goorjian said.

"We talked about it leading into this game, that the ball was ticking,  and I just thought I made a call when were 15 down early that we just didn't have the energy or the have the crispness to get anything done that way [increased ball movement]. We were asking too much right now for where these guys are at physically. I mean do we wanna have ball movement? Yes we do, but that cutting/ball movement game is tiring. Today it wasn't the players who decided, it was me, I moved out of my initial game plan," Goorjian said.

"This game it felt guys were a little down on energy, especially Tyler and Justinian who we leant on in the last game. It's not a situation that's unique to us, we just need to find a way to come and start a bit better than we have been. Everyone's in the same thing, everyone's playing heaps of games, we just need to find a way to turn this around," Hawks Captain AJ Ogilvy said.

"We targeted them [Harvey and Jessup], they're very important players to the Illawarra team. That's not to say we don't respect the rest of the team. One of the things they really thrive off is their open court offence. [We knew] If you can get to the free throw line, that goes a long way to stopping their running game," Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell said.

The Road Ahead

Round 8 NBL Cup – Thursday 4 March at 7:30pm v Adelaide 36ers @ State Basketball Centre, Melbourne

It'll be the battle of the belted teams when the Hawks face the 36ers on Thursday - both sides coming off shellackings in their most recent contests.

They're all big games in the NBL - but the way things are going you'd have to think only one of these teams could make their way into the playoffs later this year - adding some extra incentive to the fixture.

Both sides currently sit on six wins, with Adelaide already having played 13 games to the Hawks 11.