Illawarra coach Rob Beveridge says his side may look back on a disappointing road loss to Adelaide as the turning point of their season after they bounced back with a 96-90 home win over Sydney on Wednesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After surrendering third quarter leads to Perth in both of their previous two games in Wollongong, the Hawks closed out a tense clash with their arch-rivals with a composed performance down the stretch.
It was also a much improved effort in the problem areas of defence and rebounding with the hawks tying the Kings with 35 rebounds that included 13 offensive boards.
It came just three days after a meek performance against the 36rs in Adelaide in which they conceded 33 points in the opening quarter before going down 89-77.
It was tough to swallow at the time but Beveridge said the loss may yet prove the spark that re-ignites the Hawks season.
‘‘We spent so much time [on court] last week with an 11-day break and it was probably the best week of training we’ve ever had,’’ Beveridge said
‘‘To come out as flat as we did it was not us. They totally dominated us from the start.
‘‘We compared games with Adelaide game and it was embarrassing. The boys were all shaking their heads.
‘‘It wasn’t soul-searching or anything like that but it was ‘let’s put an end to this right now’ and think about who we are and what we’re about.
‘‘We had to address that and even if we’d lost [to Sydney] I would have been happy with the way we came out.
‘‘The character of these guys showed....15 times the lead changed, it was a hell of a game to coach and watch.
‘‘I think it was very very special and I’m really super proud of the guys after such a poor performance last week.’’
‘‘We want to be a high-scoring team, we want to be an entertaining team and that’s what we did.’’
A win over Townsville in the second of four straight homes games on Saturday would take the Hawks to 6-6 for the season and possibly see them climb back into the top four.
With games against Melbourne and Cairns also in Wollongong the Hawks could be firmly back in play-off contention at the end of their home block
Rhys Martin, Cody Ellis and Tyson Demos are all still to return from injury and Beveridge said he always remained confident in his side’s ability through the recent adversity.
‘‘I’ve always looked at it as a glass half full,’’ Beveridge said.
‘‘We are a new group, it’s a completely new identity and new style of game.
‘‘We are the leading scoring team in the league. That’s a fact.
‘‘We’re the best three-point shooting team, we’re the best free-throw shooting team, we’re top four in field goal percentage.
We had 19 assists [against Sydney] so we’ll be in the top two or three with that.
‘‘We’re doing some really good stuff for a team that’s in it’s infancy right now.’’