The well-resourced Perth Wildcats are the defending champions expected to sweep the NBL finals series in three games.

The Illawarra Hawks were tipped to finish at the bottom of the table. Nobody expects them to win, but they've made a habit of proving the doubters wrong.

The clubs are polar opposites - but a few things bring them together.

Illawarra coach Rob Beveridge led Perth to a championship in 2009-10 - coincidentally against the Hawks - and "helped build and create the beast" Perth is today.

A Canberra native, Beveridge recruited another ACT product in Jesse Wagstaff to Perth that season, where he has since developed into a league veteran.

"That seems like an absolute lifetime ago," Wagstaff said.

"A lot of the guys have a history with Bevo, he's well respected. He's coached a lot of us, especially Damo [Damien Martin] and Matty [Knight] - they have a history going back to a junior world championships.

"He's well respected and we all know what he's capable of."

Wagstaff's history with the Illawarra mentor goes even further back than that - his mother taught Beveridge in primary school, and his father was his woodwork teacher in high school.

"I've actually know [Wagstaff] his whole entire life, when he was a junior in Canberra through to him going overseas [for college]," Beveridge said.

"Then obviously as soon as he came back from overseas I recruited him straight away to come and play with me."

NBL MVP and Adelaide 36ers star Jerome Randle made headlines in the lead up to the semi-finals after labelling the Hawks as a club that "fight first, play basketball second."

The American import said he didn't like anything about Illawarra's players, a group he dubbed "dirty".

Wagstaff says the Wildcats aren't buying in to the "dirty" talk, saying Perth have "great respect" for Beveridge and the Hawks ahead of the best-of-five series.

"They're coached by Bevo, so that means they're well-coached," Wagstaff said.

"They're talented - they've got first-team NBL in [AJ] Ogilvy, and obviously Rotnei [Clarke] who is a former MVP and sixth man of the year this year, and they play hard.

"[Those are] three ingredients right there are pretty vital to being successful, so we have great respect for them."

The Hawks are sweating on the fitness of Ogilvy leading into game one, already without import Marvelle Harris who has flown home to America to be with his critically ill father.

Harris has committed to returning for game two on Wednesday, while Ogilvy is "doubtful" for the opener after picking up an ankle injury in the semi-finals.

NBL FINALS

Game 1 - Sunday, February 26 at Perth Arena. Tip-off at 7pm AEDT.

Game 2 - Wednesday, March 1 at WIN Entertainment Centre. Tip-off at 7:30pm AEDT.

Game 3 - Sunday, March 5 at Perth Arena. Tip-off at 3pm AEDT.

Game 4 (if required) - Friday, March 10 at WIN Entertainment Centre. Tip-off at 7:30pm AEDT.

Game 5 (if required) - Sunday, March 12 at Perth Arena. Tip-off at 7pm AEDT.