United coach Dean Demopoulos believes Illawarra was better prepared for Saturday’s clash with his squad despite the Hawks having less than 48 hours to turnaround their form after a 32-point loss to Adelaide.
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Illawarra were beaten 117-85 by the 36ers on Thursday night, but the Hawks backed up to beat Melbourne by 18 points at home.
Demopoulos’ squad had a full week of training to focus on the contest, but they were unable to come up with the goods when it mattered. The coach put it down to preparation.
“I thought they played terrific basketball. They beat us too the punch from the beginning of the game,” he said.
“Coach Beveridge had his team prepared. I did not. End of story. That’s the way it goes.It happened this time. Give them credit. They were much better than we were today and we have work to do.”
Melbourne were on a three-game winning run heading into the 106-88 defeat in Wollongong.
