The Wollongong Hawks have given new team-mate Ayinde Ubaka the thumbs-up in the count-down to Friday’s home clash with his former club Melbourne.
Ubaka had his first training session with the Hawks yesterday after being dramatically fired by the Tigers on January 15.
Wollongong are last with a 4-13 record and hope the man nicknamed Chewy can breathe life into their season over the final 11 games.
Hawks swingman Tim Coenraad believes the Tigers’ loss is the Hawks’ gain.
‘‘Like a lot of people, I was definitely shocked he got let go,’’ Coenraad said.
‘‘He’s a top calibre player. He’s been to the play-offs with Gold Coast and went to the finals last year with Cairns, and he was the leader on those teams and made big shots in big games. It was surprising they let him go, but it is what it is and I’m just happy we were able to sort something out and pick him up.
‘‘He’s going to give us that person who can break someone down off the dribble that we need every now and then when our offence bogs down.
‘‘One thing I’ve noticed about him is that he can definitely handle himself in the big moments.
‘‘It’s just a process now of getting him up to speed with our stuff.
‘‘Bringing Chewy in, he adds a different dynamic. He’s a guy who can put points on the board and also create for team-mates. He can attack bigs and really spread the floor for us. Hopefully it all works out well and he really takes to our system. I think it’ll be a good change of pace for us.’’
Forward Oscar Forman reckons Ubaka would be excited for the opportunity to prove a point to the Tigers soon after his messy exit.
‘‘That’s a nice little present for him, getting welcomed in and having the chance to go against the team that did him wrong,’’ Forman said.
‘‘He’s the sort of guy who will fit in well and he’ll be able to create for us and open things up.’’
It remains to be seen if Ubaka will start immediately for the Hawks or come off the bench.
Rhys Martin and Mat Campbell have formed the starting backcourt all season, but one of them might have to make way for Ubaka, who can play either guard position.
Forman believes primary ball-carrier Martin has hit his straps lately.
‘‘Rhys has been doing it tough having to play a heavy load of minutes,’’ he said.
‘‘Rhys has been doing it well, especially the last few games - I’ve been really impressed with his leadership for the team.
‘‘He’s making sure on every possession that we understand what we’re in, that we have a purpose, rather than just running a play for the sake of running it. We’re going at certain players with purpose and that’s been good for us. That’s been something we’ve been doing better at training over the last two weeks and it translated to the games last weekend.’’
Hawks veteran Glen Saville expects his side to function better with Ubaka on the floor.
‘‘We know what he’s capable of. He was the point guard on a grand final team last year and he steered the ship really well,’’ Saville said.
‘‘The fact that he became available and we were able to get him looks pretty good for our team for the remainder of the season.
‘‘Our results haven’t been spectacular but he still gets to play with a good bunch of guys who are still willing to work hard for the rest of the season.
‘‘He wasn’t there on the weekend but we played some pretty good basketball against two reasonable teams on their home courts. We’ve been playing some decent basketball the last couple of weeks and he’ll add another dimension.’’
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