Hawks turn focus to offence

Defence is on the improve for the struggling Wollongong Hawks - now for the excruciatingly ugly offence.

The Hawks held the New Zealand Breakers to 71 points on Friday night in Auckland, which included an implausible three-point output in the entire third quarter.

But Wollongong scored just 13 themselves in the same 10-minute span and were restricted to eight in the final quarter, as the Breakers secured a 71-55 victory to move up to third spot.

Creating and making shots consistently has been an issue for the last-placed Hawks all season, particularly in the past two weeks.

They started the season full of promise, racking up 92 points and making 49 per cent of their shots in an opening-night triumph over Townsville.

Aside from an 89-point effort at 48 per cent a week later against Cairns, Wollongong's glaring inability to keep the scoreboard ticking over is the reason why they have lost nine straight since the first-round defeat of Townsville.

The Hawks are averaging 71.9 points a game, making just 39.6 per cent of their shot attempts and a meagre 29.3 per cent from the three-point range.

In the past two games, they have averaged 53.5 points at 31 per cent and knocked down a measly 18 per cent of their three-point shots.

With the finals almost out of reach a third of the way into the season, Wollongong coach Gordie McLeod will be hoping his side's offence finally clicks in this weekend's road double against Cairns and Townsville.

"The pleasing thing [against New Zealand] was we competed well, our disruption was reasonable and we built some pressure on the defensive end, but we are really struggling offensively as a group and we really have to find a way to play," McLeod said.

"At the moment, it's like pulling teeth. We're trying to do too much. When we got it right, we built pressure and kept the Breakers out of their running game, but in the end, they overran us and made some big plays.

"With only eight points in the final quarter, we struggled to get a total that was going to be competitive."

Trailing the Breakers by 10 at half-time, the Hawks finally won a third quarter to get back into the contest.

But they had no answers for the all-round contributions of New Zealand import Cedric Jackson.

The American guard finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Wollongong also had trouble handling centre Ekene Ibekwe, who imposed himself to tally 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

Wollongong centre Larry Davidson has implored his teammates to keep believing in Hawks coach Gordie McLeod’s elaborate offensive systems.

The Hawks suffered their ninth successive loss last Friday in New Zealand and face a difficult assignment with this weekend’s back to back road duels with Cairns and Townsville.

Davidson said the club’s five off-season recruits were still getting their heads around the offensive playbook and he urged them to stay positive.

‘‘We’ve had problems scoring in the past, just not as severe as this season has been,’’ he said.

‘‘Part of it is having new guys, but it seems more that it’s about finding that comfort level on the court where you do things without thinking about it.

‘‘Rhys [Martin], me, Ossie [Forman], Timmy [Coenraad], when we see the ball go somewhere we know what’s going to happen and we can just move instinctively. I know for myself that I can read off-the-ball movement and player movement, whereas the newer guys who haven’t been in the system as long as us have to think about what they do when the ball goes to a certain spot.

‘‘It’s just getting that comfort factor on the court. It’s like experience – you can’t just wake up one morning and be experienced. 

‘‘It’s just something that’s going to happen over time, and the only thing we can do to help that is to really focus and work on it every day in practice and in games.’’

Davidson started for the first time this season in Friday’s 16-point loss to the Breakers, leading the Hawks in scoring (12) and rebounding (nine).

‘‘I felt really good out there,’’ he  said.