Illawarra have proven the NBL’s most thrilling entertainers at their best but have looked decidedly lacklustre at their worst.

Their last start loss to Adelaide, in which they conceded 33 points in the first quarter, was perhaps the worst example of the latter.

It sees them sitting outside the top four ahead of their home clash with Sydney on Wednesday with a sizeable gap between their best and worst performances.

Penney admitted that there are some ‘‘glaring deficiencies’’ that require addressing but said he still had full confidence in his side’s ability to make an impression on the play-offs.

‘‘I really believe in this group and I know that the coaching staff do to,” Penney said.

‘‘We’re in the process of trying to be a great team.

‘‘We’ve shown flashes where we’ve played really well and we’ve had flashes where we haven’t played well.

‘‘Obviously we want to have a lot more good flashes than bad flashes.

‘‘That Adelaide game was just awful. We really got off to a shocking start and we paid for it for the rest of the game. 

“We’ve addressed a few things and we really want to come out against Sydney with a completely different approach.’’ 

With a team full of noted scorers the Hawks have thrived at stages under coach Rob Beveridge’s shot-heavy offence but have looked down on confidence in a run of three losses from their past four games.

Penney gave an emphatic answer when asked if the run had dented the squad’s confidence in the system.

‘‘No not at all,’’ Penney said.

“We know when we run his system we’re really successful.

‘‘What we addressed in video was that we weren’t abiding by Bevo’s system. 

‘‘It’s more of the flipside where defensively we started off that Adelaide game and we weren’t in that system. We were in some old habitual things that aren’t very beneficial for this group.

‘‘I hope we can get back to Bevo’s system against Sydney because, with this personnel, we have to play that system to be successful.’’

Their 77 points against the 36rs was the Hawks second-lowest score for the season but Penney said his side’s biggest problems continue to lie at the defensive end.

‘‘The media and fans will always measure us on points,’’ Penney said.

‘‘For us as a group we truly do need to measure ourselves on our rebounding, defensively and offensively, and on our defence.

‘‘As a group we know what that defence looks like and we want to really make sure in the next couple of games that we correct these glaring deficiencies in our game.

‘‘We have the personnel to do it it’s just a matter of switching on and doing it.”