If there are any doubts in a team’s mind whatsoever, it just isn’t going to happen for you, it’s as simple as that.

That’s what makes the Perth Wildcats so good.

They have a belief there every time they get on the court they’re going to get the job done.

It’s our challenge to get in the same mindset.

We can’t just think because we’ve overachieved in the eyes of many people around the league this season that this team can’t take things to another level.

We absolutely can and without a doubt have the ability to be NBL champions this season.

It’s up to us to believe in ourselves to make that happen. 

That’s been the focus for us throughout this week.

With that in mind, I expect to see a completely different Hawks team on the floor on Wednesday night to the one we saw in our loss in game one.

We’ve reviewed the tape over and over against since that 89-77 defeat to the Wildcats on Sunday and came up with pretty brutal assessment of our performance.

When the lights came on in, we just weren’t up to it on the night.

It was almost as if we had a case of stage fright.

Whether we were passing up shots we would usually take or failing to complete those non-negotiables, the boys just weren’t themselves.

Of course, the limited preparation we had compared to Perth had a lot to do with it.

While the Wildcats had six days to prepare physically and mentally for the occasion, we were coming off a short turnaround from a tough game three win over Adelaide 36ers just a few nights earlier. We were also dealing with the fact that AJ Ogilvy was banged up and Marvelle Harris was absent because of urgent personal matters back in the United States. 

There is no doubt that impacted our performance.

At the end of the day, we know we can be better than that and in game two I believe we will be in what should be a massive home crowd at WIN Entertainment Centre.