Hawks taking flight as new recruits fit in

NBL

The Wollongong Hawks aren't about to get carried away with their strong start to the NBL season.

Wins over Sydney and Cairns have given Wollongong a share of top spot alongside title favourites Perth, and confidence is high heading into Sunday afternoon's home clash with last-placed Townsville.

Best of all, the Hawks are confident they can only get better.

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"I guess the exciting thing is that there's a lot of room for improvement, and we have to find that individually and as a team," Wollongong coach Gordie McLeod said.

"That's what you need to have success. We need multiple guys playing to the level they're capable of. The challenge is to continually get better."

Despite winning nine of 11 pre-season games, the Hawks initially weren't rated among the main top four contenders.

But most of those opinions have changed.

There were patchy moments against the Kings and Taipans, but the Hawks are still blending in off-season recruits Adris Deleon, Auryn MacMillan and Lance Hurdle and do not need to peak early.

"Those guys are really working hard and making the effort to fit into the style we want to play, and we have to find ways to best utilise their strengths," McLeod said.

"That's no different to any other guy in the team. We're bringing new things in and developing our systems, so it's the same for everyone. You have to move your system forward and we have to try and move the individuals forward."

Forward Dave Gruber said the Hawks were always looking for ways to gain an advantage over an opponent.

"Rebounding was an area that hurt us against Sydney and we talked about fixing that, and strengths of ours from the Cairns game were definitely defence and rebounding," Gruber said.

"We held them to 59 points and out-rebounded them on their home court, and we executed the plan that we wanted to fairly well. But what we have to take on board is that it's something we need to work on all year. It's not all of a sudden solved."

Tickets for Sunday's game are available through Ticketek.

Hawks officials are urging fans to wear pink in support of breast cancer research. One dollar from every casual ticket sold will be donated to the fight against breast cancer.