It’s no secret the Illawarra Hawks have struggled in the absence of guard Mitch Norton, so when the former Townsville skipper returns this Friday night it’s unsurprising he is keen to help steady the ship.
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Since the 23-year-old went off with a hamstring injury in the first quarter of Illawarra’s round to match against arch rivals Sydney Kings, the Hawks have lost four straight NBL matches.
A pair of losses to the Kings and away to defeats to Melbourne United and Perth Wildcats have the league’s last remaining foundation club languishing near the bottom of the competition after three rounds.
But with three straight home games coming up, starting with Friday’s match against Perth, Norton is certain the Hawks can turn things around.
“There is a lot of talk about our record right now but if we take care of our home games we are going to be right back in the hunt and all the people who are throwing criticism around won’t be there any longer,” he said.
“We are really looking forward to reaching out and grabbing a few wins.
“It’s obviously one win at a time but if we play our style of basketball and stick to our rules it will go a long way.”
It’s likely Norton will come straight back into the starting line-up against the Wildcats as Illawarra look to get back in the winner’s circle. He kept a keen eye on matters on the court for the two weeks he was sidelined.
"You want to be out there with your brothers helping the team succeed which has been a little bit painful but I was doing a lot of things off the court,” Norton said.
"[I was] taking notes and stuff like that to feed back to the boys and Bevo as well.
"I was out but I think I was still contributing in some way."
As an close observer throughout the Hawks’ four game losing streak, Norton recognised where Illawarra desperately needed to improvement.
"I think we need a lot more intensity of defence,” he said.
“We need that early pick up so meeting them up the floor.
"Then on offense pick up the ball and really push it in transition.
"I think when we slow down and run the half court stuff we can execute in the half court, but we really want to get out and run. Push the ball ahead.
"That's my job and if I do my job I think it will help us."
Illawarra tip-off against the Wildcats at 7.30pm on Friday night.
Perth are missing both of their starting guards, Jarrod Kenny and Damian Martin, for the match as well as import Andre Ingram, who departed during the week.
Cairns Taipans – the only team below the Hawks on the NBL ladder – head to town on Sunday.
