Ayinde Ubaka was controversially fired by his former club barely a week ago but the new Wollongong import is relishing the chance to resume his NBL career with the Hawks.
The man nicknamed ‘‘Chewy’’ was signed by the Hawks yesterday as a replacement for Showron Glover and will play with the club for the rest of the season.
‘‘When one door closes, another one opens up,’’ Ubaka said before a brief afternoon workout at the Snakepit.
‘‘It looks like a good opportunity. Gordie’s [McLeod] a good coach, they have a good veteran core group they’ve had for a couple of years. I just want to come in and fit in and do what I can by bringing my skill set to the team.’’
Ubaka debuted in Australia with the Gold Coast Blaze in 2009-10 before last season’s stint with Cairns.
The 25-year-old joined Melbourne in the off-season and was in the midst of another solid campaign when he was axed in explosive circumstances by Tigers chief executive Seamus McPeake minutes after a January 15 home loss to Gold Coast.
Ubaka told a Melbourne radio station last week that McPeake ‘‘cussed out’’ the team in the locker room after the 13-point defeat and ‘‘told me to leave the room, to go and get another job’’.
Ubaka’s contract was terminated, freeing him to join a rival club.
When the last-placed Hawks parted ways with Glover late last week, Ubaka immediately emerged as the obvious candidate to fill the club’s import vacancy.
In an intriguing twist to the drama, Ubaka’s first appearance with his new team will be against Melbourne this Friday at WIN Entertainment Centre.
Ubaka left on good terms with Melbourne’s playing and coaching staff but clearly has no time for McPeake.
‘‘I was angry. It happened out of the blue,’’ the former University of California star said.
‘‘The way it went down was real unprofessional. I don’t really want to go right into detail but it definitely could’ve been handled better. I guess [McPeake] doesn’t like people talking back to him.
‘‘It happens. It’s an unfortunate situation, but you have to move on and keep playing the game you love, and that’s the most important thing to me.
‘‘I was real close with the coach and the team. We’re still cool, all the players. They’re in a worse situation now because they can’t really say much because they might be wondering if they’re the next ones to go.’’
Asked if he would be out for revenge on Friday, Ubaka said: ‘‘Probably not here, but when we play in Melbourne I will be for sure. Right now I’m just moving on and looking forward to a new situation.
‘‘It’s going to be weird for sure. I was in that side a week ago and then a week later playing against them.’’
Ubaka’s new team-mates are excited about his arrival, while McLeod is confident the 194cm guard will make his team function more efficiently.
‘‘We were in a pretty lucky position really in that we didn’t have to bring someone over from the States and go through the whole process of immigration and international player clearances,’’ McLeod said.
‘‘To have someone in Australia who could come into the roster at such short notice was obviously a no-brainer situation,’’ he added.
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