After battling the bottom-placed Taipans last night in Cairns, the Hawks fly to Townsville this morning for their fifth game in 10 days.

Waiting for the visitors will be a hungry Crocs outfit hellbent on exorcising the demons of a 99-77 trouncing at the hands of the Hawks on October 24 in Wollongong.

Townsville were terrible that night, trailing by as many as 33 before a barrage of Brad Williamson three-point bombs made the final score slightly more respectable.

In the Crocs' defence, they were thrashed by the Breakers in New Zealand two nights before facing the Hawks and fatigue was clearly a factor.

This time it is the Hawks who are nearing the end of a brutal stage of the draw, while the much fresher Crocs haven't played for eight days.

"We played what we thought was our worst game of the year against them," Crocs forward Stephen Hoare told a Townsville newspaper.

"I don't get caught up in all that revenge stuff, but we didn't play well last time and we want to prove we are a better team than we showed."

Crocs fans are buzzing at the prospect of watching their hero Corey "Homicide" Williams take on Wollongong's do-it-all guard Tywain McKee.

Williams had his worst performance of the season when the talented duo first crossed paths, scoring just three points on 1/10 shooting and turning over possession four times.

The brash New Yorker knows McKee dominated their match-up - he finished with 21 points, four rebounds and four assists - and will be eager to show his opponent the real Homicide in tonight's rematch.

Townsville are equal leaders in points per game (90) and field goal accuracy (49 per cent), but they are conceding 87 points per night (second-last).

The Hawks might be wise to send the home side to the foul line rather than give up easy lay-ups, with the Crocs only making a league-worst 61 per cent of their free throws.

One of three teams with a 4-4 record, Townsville know they can't afford a slow start against the NBL leaders.

"(Our starts are) a bit of an Achilles heel for us at the moment," Hoare said. "We get ourselves in a bit of trouble and have to fight back. We've got to make sure we stamp that out. We need to get a good first half and then carry on."