HE’S one of the biggest stars to ever grace the NBL but the Hawks won’t be rolling out the welcome mat for superstar Kings import Josh Childress on Wednesday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Injuries have restricted Childress to just one game this season - a 23-point performance against Adelaide in round three - and sees Sydney languishing at the bottom of the ladder.
Childress produced 34 points and 12 rebounds in his last appearance at the WIN Entertainment Centre and his return to the venue adds spice to what is already one of the most heated rivalries in the NBL.
Former Sydney guard Kevin White is well aware of the impact the 400-game NBA veteran can have on a team but said the Hawks won’t be over-awed by his presence on their home court.
‘‘He’s just on another level with his NBA experience but we’re not going to shy away from that at all,’’ White said.
‘‘We’re going to attack him and try to get after him a bit.
‘‘He’s been out of the game for a little bit so we’ll test his fitness, see if he can chase Kirk [Penney] and chase Kev [Lisch] and hopefully challenge him that way.
‘‘He obviously adds a lot to them because he can do everything.
‘‘He can rebound, block shots, he can pass the ball, he can score so he’s certainly a key for them.’’
The Hawks drew first blood in the rivalry with a 100-86 win at the Kingdome in round three but White said the stakes are higher this time around.
‘‘For both groups it’s a pretty big game but being on our home floor it’s probably bigger for us than it is for them,’’ he said.
‘‘At this time of year it’s pretty important to start to string some wins together and start to get your team chemistry together.
‘‘We were pretty disappointed with our last performance here against Perth.
“To drop those couple of games [to the Wildcats] was disappointing because we’ve wanted to protect our home court from day one.
‘‘We’ve let that slip twice but hopefully this can be a turning point in our season.”