“The four quarters that we played was unbelievable,” Tatum said. 

Should he lead Illawarra to the promised land, he may find himself immortalised in bronze, but for now Hawks coach Justin Tatum will settle for some of his choice words being immortalised on a t-shirt.

In what was certainly his most memorable press conference as Hawks coach, Tatum didn’t mince words about the officiating in the aftermath to his side’s first meeting with Melbourne United this season. 

That September evening, United snuck home 106-100 in a showdown more famous for star sharpshooter Chris Goulding’s late-game (alleged) flop, and Tatum’s subsequent post-game spray, than the final result. 

The Hawks faithful showed they have long memories on Saturday night, with a large chunk of the sold-out crowd wearing shirts that lifted part of Tatum’s famous missive: “We’re just happy Chris Goulding didn’t get hurt flopping in front of us.” 

Some of the more creative fans even brought an accompanying banner, with Velcro and all, that kept a running tally of the Melbourne star’s alleged flops. They ultimately had the first and last laugh as the Hawks blew out second-placed United 117-95. 

“I’m waiting on my check, man” a jovial Tatum joked post-game. 

“I didn't know about it, so I’m waiting on my check. Somebody sent me a picture of the guy with it, I read everything, and I was like ‘they were all my words’. I need that NIL money, but the fans are unbelievable. 

“I've seen and I heard about a lot of signs and things like that, but just to see the fans backing us, packing the gym, enjoying the way we play, enjoying the players, stuff like that. I love a sense of humour in the crowd.” 

Tatum could afford a sense of humour given the emphatic nature of the win bouncing back from a last-start road loss to Adelaide, with the victory over the league’s number two team a telling reminder that the Hawks remain the team to beat in the title race. 

Trey Kell led the Hawks scoring with 23 points, four rebounds and three assists, while Tyler Harvey had an efficient 20 points, nine dimes and five rebounds. Lachy Olbrich also produced arguably his best game of the campaign, with 18 points at 8-9 from the field in less than 17 minutes on the floor.

Sam Froling had an understated double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, seven on the offensive glass. The latter was a category in which the Hawks utterly dominated the visitors, finishing with a staggering 19 o-boards and 25 second-chance points to just four.  

They also enjoyed a 24-10 advantage in transition points on a night that saw no let-up in tempo, something Tatum was most pleased with in the aftermath.  

“The four quarters that we played was unbelievable,” Tatum said.  

“One of the boxes that we wanted to get checked off is that we wanted to play four quarters. We’ve played so many games and we only played two quarters well, three quarters well. I felt today we really played four quarters.  

“Offensively, these guys are who they are. I know that's going to come, that's what they do, so that's not extremely surprising to me. I'm just happy that they got into a groove, but our team playing four quarters was probably the most impressive thing.” 

 Swaka Lo Buluk puts the clamps on the ‘bad guy’ 

While Goulding’s often the villain whenever he plays out of the ‘visitors’ locker room, his insatiable appetite for points, and class in knocking them down, means vocal fans risk poking a quite formidable bear.

It wasn’t the case on Saturday and, as is often the case, the home fans had Wani Swaka Lo Buluk to thank for it. While Goulding kept United in touch with 14 first-half points, he didn’t get on the sheet at all in the second half and managed just four field goal attempts in the latter two quarters. 

“If CG gets it going, anything can happen, the man just made 10 threes less than a week ago,” Tatum said. 

“We felt that if we slow him down, don't give him good looks, and make it difficult for him, that it'd be beneficial for us. At the end of the day, somebody else has to be aggressive, and that's what we want, to take him out of it.  

“We wanted the play physical with him, the right way, and just make sure everything was tough [for him]. It was a team effort, but Wani, defensively, on Goulding was exceptional.”  

The Hawks will be back in action quickly in their penultimate home game of the regular season against Brisbane on Monday, with Tatum making no secret of his desire to make history for the club with its first top-place finish to a regular season. 

“I always want to be part of history, no matter what it is,” Tatum said. 

“Especially in my profession, you always want to be a part of something that may or may not ever happen. Our bigger goal, clearly, is the grand finals, but we’re definitely pushing for that.  

“As long as our team knows that there's no more letdowns for the rest of the year, or no more gimmes for the rest of the year, and as long as we put in our best effort, we have a chance to win every game.”  

Tip-off at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Monday is at 7.30pm