Rhys Martin. Picture: ANDY ZAKELI
BASKETBALL
Despite scoring a career-high 28 points last week, Hawks playmaker Rhys Martin doesn't expect to be targeted in tonight's battle with Cairns.
Martin had the game of his life against titleholders New Zealand, hitting six out of seven three-point shots and also grabbing a career-best five steals.
The Breakers held off Wollongong to claim a 78-76 win, but Martin's superb performance would have caught the eye of Cairns coach Aaron Fearne.
Martin has kept his feet on the ground this week and believes he won't be a major focal point for the Taipans.
"They'll be concentrating more on taking care of business inside the paint," he said.
"Teams that have beaten us have done a good job of that. So if they [the Taipans] pay attention to that, it's going to make it hard for us to get more possessions and get more shots up.
"Twenty-eight points one week - it's only one game. If I was doing that consistently I'd get more attention, but it was just a good shooting night."
The 26-year-old is having the best campaign of his five-year tenure with Wollongong. He is averaging 12.5 points, 3.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds, 1.2 steals and just two turnovers per game.
He is second on the team in minutes per game (31.21) to captain Oscar Forman (31.71) and is hitting a career-best 51 per cent of his shot attempts, including a team-high 44 per cent from three-point range.
The Hawks hold a 2-1 edge over the Taipans head to head and can clinch their first regular series with victory tonight.
"It's a pretty big game - it's a case where both teams need to win," Martin said.
"We're both going to be pretty desperate coming into this game. One team will be stopping the rot and getting back on track and hopefully it's us.
"It's probably a little more important for us because it's a home game and you don't like losing home games.
"We've lost our last two at home and we can't let that stretch to three in a row.
"Some of those wins we had earlier came pretty easily, because teams probably hadn't scouted us and we flew under the radar a bit. Now that you've been scouted it's harder to get through your offence.
"We have to be that extra bit disciplined and really focus on what we want to do and not get distracted by their pressure."