BASKETBALL
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Three straight losses have sent his side to the bottom of the ladder, but Wollongong coach Gordie McLeod remains upbeat about their progress after two rounds.
The Hawks went down to reigning champions Perth by 10 in Perth on Friday and were beaten 91-89 at home by competition leaders Cairns on Sunday.
Wollongong grabbed more rebounds and shot the ball at a higher percentage than their opponents. But the Taipans taught the Hawks a lesson in ball security, turning over possession just twice in 40 minutes.
"They do a good job of working the opposition and not turning the ball over. That's a big part of how they control the tempo of the game," McLeod said.
"That's where we have to get to as a group. If we'd had two turnovers it would've been a different story."
Wollongong would love to emulate Cairns' efficiency this week against Adelaide [away] and New Zealand [home].
McLeod found a silver lining in the performance against Cairns.
"They made some big plays. We fought hard and they made some big shots to knock us out," he said.
"When you take the in-form team of the competition and play them that tough, you're thereabouts, but they were just that little bit better than us. We had our opportunities and we didn't take them.
"Considering the weekend we had, we showed a lot of ticker and we're competing, so we're not that far off the mark. But if you want to win you have to be able to play for four quarters.
"Some of our turnovers were very bad, and when we turned it over they made us pay. We obviously have to do better with that. We're struggling at times offensively to get into sync and get everyone knowing how to use the pieces."
Jahii Carson (24), Oscar Forman (23) and Gary Ervin (21) provided 76.4 per cent of Wollongong's scoring output against Cairns.
No other player got more than six points.
"It's about getting people involved all the way through. That's where we have to take the next step as a group," McLeod said.
"We can't be a one-horse or two-horse team. We need contributions from everyone to take the pressure off, so we can free people up to do what they do."
The Hawks (1-3) meet the 36ers (1-2) on Thursday night in Adelaide and host the Breakers (2-1) on Sunday at 3pm.