"Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t." Tyler Harvey

Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t.

Tyler Harvey’s simple explanation for his game-winning exploits might hold water if he didn’t so flagrantly contradict it at every turn. Sure, sometimes they don’t go in, but more often than not, they do. 

In recent memory, no NBL star can match his highlight reel in the ‘for-the-win’ stakes. No matter how poorly he may have shot the ball through an evening – he was 2-9 from deep through 39 minutes and 53 seconds at John Cain Arena on Wednesday – the higher the stakes, the more likely the shot is to fall.   

It’s a quality players and coaches would bottle if they could, but the man himself doesn’t give a great deal of thought to it, even in the thick of those moments.  

“For me, it's just becoming as still as possible and trusting everything I’ve worked on throughout my life to make the best decision in those moments,” the 31-year-old says. 

“You can't think about how big of a moment it is, because you're distracting yourself from what's happening on the court and what the coverage is. If you get doubled and you have to pass it, if you're thinking ‘oh, I gotta shoot the shot’ you miss the pass.  

“It just goes to trusting your instinct and letting your body and your mind take over where it doesn't require much thought. That’s the place I try to get to. 

“Sometimes the ball goes in, sometimes it doesn't, but you just want to give yourself the best chance to make a play.”  

That ability to instinctively react came to the fore in the dying seconds of the Hawks 102-100 win over United, with coach Justin Tatum revealing in the aftermath that finding Harvey in that corner was “the third option” he drew up at a crucial timeout. Harvey’s not convinced it was ever drawn up at all. 

“It was actually a messed-up play,” he said. 

“The play we drew up, they threw in a different wrinkle where that play wasn't on and Todd (Blanchfield) just looked at me and set a little brush screen to try to get a little bit of space. I think at that moment you just try to let instinct take over, make or miss.  

“I was fortunate enough to go in, but in those moments, you just have to react to what you see on the court. You can't script things, as much as you want to as a player and as a coach, sometimes you just feel what you feel out there on the court and you just have to live with it. I've missed shots as well, you’ve just got to think about the next play.”   

It’s something the two-time All-NBL First Teamer leant on heavily on Wednesday after committing a self-described “boneheaded” foul on United star Ian Clark as the NBA Championship-winner attempted a desperate corner three with 11 seconds left.  

His view of the basket was so bad you couldn’t have sold seats from where he shot the ball, but Harvey’s cheap foul sent him to the line for three freebies and a two-point lead that left the Hawks staring down the barrel of an 0-2 deficit. For Harvey, it wasn’t something to dwell on. 

“It's hard not to,” he conceded 

“The game's so emotional sometimes and Mase (Mason Peatling) brought up a good point to us earlier in this series, that the playoffs are just about having that next play mentality. He's been there before on a championship team and he said that’s what you have to have, it's non-negotiable.  

“The game moves quick, man, and I made a couple of bonehead mistakes, but you can't pout about it. If you do, it's going to affect you the next possession and then it becomes a snowball effect. As hard as it is sometimes to not think about, you just have to force yourself not to.”   

This interview with Hawks Media is admittedly as much thought as he’s given it, so sharp is his focus on Sunday’s looming Game Three at the Sandpit. Those game-winners that flood social media on the back of his latest clutch dagger seemingly all blur into one. 

“I don't think about it too much to be honest,” he said. 

“My little man (his son) pulls up highlights all the time on YouTube and I'll be like ‘oh, I forgot about that play’. You get lost in it when you're so focused on winning a championship, you don't have time to think about everything that's happened in the past. Someday I'll enjoy it, but I just really want to win this championship. 

“Getting as close as we are right now, we know the magnitude of it. We know how important each and every game is, and we know how important it is for the city to bring a championship back here. We’re close, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.”