Illawarra assistant coach Eric Cooks has witnessed the Hawks’ struggles in Perth first hand over the past decade and felt the club let a chance to break their drought slip through their fingers on Friday night.
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Cooks stood in for coach Rob Beveridge, who was attending his son’s high graduation, as Illawarra were beaten 80-73 by the Wildcats at Perth Arena.
Illawarra haven’t won in NBL match in Perth since December 17, 2006.
They were within two points of the Wildcats inside the final minutes, but a clutch three from Perth’s Andre Ingram gave them what proved to be a match winning buffer, much to the dismay of Cooks.
"It's disappointing, I thought we had our chances," he said.
"I thought at times we played well but the rebounding really hurt us.
"They pounded the boards and that's one of things they do here well.
"They continued to do it in the second half."
The loss is the Hawks third straight after they dropped matches to Sydney Kings and Melbourne United in round two.
"There is no doubt our guys want to fight but we have to find a way to win in this league," Cooks said.
"It is a very tough league.
"We head to Sydney on Monday so we have to find a way.
"At the end of the day that sort of set in the fourth quarter but unfortunately things didn't go our way."
The Hawks will get the chance to exact revenge on the Wildcats when they come to Wollongong this Friday night.
