Larry Davidson. Picture: GREG TOTMAN
BASKETBALL
He rose to the occasion last week against Melbourne and his Wollongong Hawks teammates expect him to be similarly motivated in tonight's round-22 road duel with Townsville.
Hawks centre Larry Davidson re-discovered his shooting touch with a season-high 23 points in the impressive win over the Tigers.
The 30-year-old is taking on the NBL's tallest player tonight - the Crocodiles' 218-centimetre centre Luke Nevill.
Davidson is arguably the league's best perimeter shooter among centres and the Hawks hope his knack for timely threes will keep Nevill guessing.
"Larry's a fantastic player and, when he's aggressive, he's really, really good for us," Wollongong captain Oscar Forman said.
"He's such an unselfish player. He's always giving the ball up and making smart passes to make sure other people can score.
"Against Nevill, Laz has that mobility and Nevill has limited mobility, so we'll be looking to drag him out of the key-way, and Laz can also attack him off the dribble if we isolate him."
The Hawks (11-14) are equal-third with Sydney (11-14) with three games remaining.
Tonight's game is their last on the road before they finish the regular season with home games against Sydney and Adelaide.
Townsville (8-16) have four matches left and can't afford a single loss.
Forman said the Hawks must avoid straying from the game plan against the Crocs.
"We need to play Hawks basketball, and that's working together as a unit on defence and talking a lot, and moving the ball around and finding the open man on offence," he said.
"We have to stay with our scouting and what we've worked on. All year when we've done that, we've been there at the end of games, whereas in games where we've deviated from the game plan and gone individual, that's when we've really struggled."
The Hawks will be counting on their starting five.
"The starters need to set the tone for the game, and then it's up to the bench to come in and hold that intensity, if not lift it," he said.