BASKETBALL
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Given that they are well out of finals reckoning, it might seem only natural to assume the majority of the Wollongong Hawks are playing for their futures.
But senior players Oscar Forman and Gary Ervin insist nothing could be further from the truth.
They say the theory that the final seven games of the season will be an audition for next season is way off target.
‘‘Realistically that’s not the right way to think, because you have stuff that you have to handle in your current situation,’’ Ervin said.
‘‘You never know what the future may hold, and if you start thinking about things like that, you tend to try too hard and try things you’re not capable of doing, and you usually play yourself out of a role in the future.’’
Wollongong have won just three of 21 games – they are four wins behind seventh-placed Townsville – and the chances of the squad remaining intact beyond this season are remote.
The only Hawks players contracted for next season are Forman, Luke Nevill, Tim Coenraad and Brad Hill.
‘‘It’s just about how you finish the season as part of a team,’’ Ervin said.
‘‘Everybody’s looking, every GM and every coach, they’re always going to look at what you’ve done and talk to other coaches to ask how you are.’’
Ervin was Wollongong’s first NBL MVP in 30 years in 2011. He returned to the club this season and knows there are no guarantees for the future.
‘‘I do it for Wollongong,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s the only reason that I came back because I love this place and I love the passion of the people.’’
While Forman knows his future is secure for at least another year, he believes players looking to inflate personal statistics is a recipe for disaster.
‘‘We play for pride, both individually and as a team,’’ Forman said.
‘‘We were speaking about it with [coach] Gordie [McLeod] that you play for pride. Wollongong’s a working-class town and you don’t quit. You keep working and our goals don’t change. We come to training and work hard to get better.
‘‘You’re never going to come out and play as a team of individuals and win a game. What coaches and future coaches look for is how that player fits within a team structure, as well as their flashes of brilliance themselves.
‘‘We want to show that we’re better than our record suggests, that we’re better than what we’ve shown this season.’’