AJ OGILVY dominated with a game-high 28 points and 13 rebounds in Townsville.
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Hawks coach Rob Beveridge is anything but satisfied.
In the aftermath of Wednesday night’s 96-88 victory over the Crocodiles, Beveridge declared Illawarra will only realise their enormous potential if Ogillvy sees more of the ball.
“I think he’s the best big man in the league,” Beveridge said.
“His strength, his touch and his passing ability – he’s unselfish – and we haven’t done a real good job as a team of making him a focal point. We still have a long way to go. I’m not happy with the amount of times he’s actually getting touches.
“We want to be able to shoot from the perimeter, there’s no question about that – we’ll take that – but the focal point should be actually getting the ball inside to AJ.”
Ogilvy made 11 of 14 shots in 27 minutes of court time, as well as six free throws.
In the statistical breakdown, the Hawks scored four less points than Townsville in the paint, despite controlling most of the game.
They also scored just four second chance points, compared to the Crocodiles, who finished 14 when the ball was recycled. However, the Hawks have now scored more than 90 points in their past four games, including a total of 100 in beating Sydney on the Kings’ floor.
The Crocodiles launched a second half comeback on Wednesday night, but were simply unable to contain the Hawks outside shooting.
Kevin Lisch finished with 25 points, including four of six from outside, while Kirk Penney made three of five from three-point range in a 24-point haul.
Running hot with his shooting in just his second game in Hawks colours, it came after Lisch was 0-5 outside the arc in the loss to former club Perth on Sunday
After beating the Crocs, Lisch said he expects Illawarra to challenge for the NBL title this year, but have vast improvement left in them.
‘Were a work in progress and the more we can work it in to AJ the better off our team is,” he said.
“Right now we don’t (have what it takes to win a title), but come the end of the season, I think there’s no doubt about it. And that’s a good thing about our team, we’re willing to learn and look at ourselves honestly.”
The Hawks continue their first major road trip this season by taking on Perth on Saturday night.
They spent more than seven hours on a plane before touching down on Thursday afternoon, flying to Brisbane for the connecting flight to Perth. Saturday night’s Wildcats duel will be an enticing rematch in the battle between Ogilvy and Nate Jawai.