Pressure is mounting on the Melbourne Tigers to stop a mid-season slide down the ladder.
The Tigers arrived in Wollongong last night and are desperate to snap a five-game losing skid in tonight’s duel with the Hawks at WIN Entertainment Centre.
One of the league’s hottest teams over the first seven rounds, Melbourne lost key off-season recruit Patty Mills in late November - he signed a lucrative contract with a Chinese club - and have been unable to keep pace with heavyweights Perth and New Zealand.
Controversial Tigers boss Seamus McPeake took away another vital piece to the puzzle when he sacked import Ayinde Ubaka moments after a home loss to Gold Coast on January 15.
Full coverage of the Hawks Ubaka has since signed with Wollongong and his former team-mates know he will be keen to make a point tonight.
‘‘It was certainly a big distraction, but we can’t control any of that,’’ Tigers and ex-Hawks forward Cam Tragardh said of Ubaka’s sudden exit.
‘‘As players and coaches, we have to stay together and keep all that stuff on the outer and block it out. We just have to focus on what we can control on the court.’’
Tragardh has kept in touch with Ubaka and believes he will provide the Hawks with a major boost.
‘‘He’s a really mature player and he’ll slot in nicely,’’ the league’s leading scorer said.
‘‘Perhaps other players would come in gung-ho, but Chewy’s professional. He’ll want to fit in with his team-mates. I see him being very sharp, but I don’t see him coming in trying to take over and score 30.
‘‘Deep down, when this happens to us as players, we’ve all left teams and had a point to prove at one stage or another against our old team. But Chewy’s a real pro and he won’t want to take away from Wollongong’s game plan of moving and sharing the ball.’’
American guard Myron Allen has signed on as Ubaka’s replacement and debuted with 13 points, eight assists and two steals in last week’s road loss to Gold Coast.
‘‘I really like him. He’s a pass-first point guard and big guys really like that,’’ Tragardh said.
‘‘He’s strong, athletic and can get in the lane and find open players. He’ll bring some guys into the game and we’ve struggled with that a little this year, getting people involved.’’
Melbourne beat the Hawks by eight in round four at Wollongong.
But they have dropped from equal-second to sixth in less than two months.
‘‘We just came off a horror stretch of six games but a couple of wins would really put us back in the mix,’’ Tragardh said.
‘‘Chewy aside, the Hawks are coming off a big win in Cairns and not many teams have done that. They’re so dangerous on their night.
‘‘The biggest weapon they’ve got is team camaraderie.’’
Email a friend