They’ll need to defy history, but Hawks coach Rob Beveridge has refuted any suggestion Illawarra’s chances of winning the NBL are now on life support.
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Illawarra sit last in the competition after four rounds following a disheartening 99-94 overtime defeat to bitter rivals Sydney Kings at WIN Entertainment Centre on Sunday.
It saw them slump to a league-worst 1-5 record.
No club in the NBL’s history have ever won the championship after starting the season with the same record.
But Beveridge, who has led the Hawks to the finals in both previous seasons in charge, has faith his battling squad will still turn things around.
“People will look at the record and they will write as off but the thing is with our group, I have the most unbelievable belief in these guys,” he said.
“We have each others backs. We don’t turn up to play to try and upset or disappoint the fans and all the people out there.
“We try our arses off. Are things working well for us? No they are not. But right now we are going to stay together as a group, continue to fight.
“We just need some consistency and a little bit of luck could help but we have to make our own luck at times.”
Hawks vice captain Mitch Norton agreed with Beveridge and said the playing group had come together in a bid to block out any external pressure that’s building on the club ahead of another crucial double header this week. Illawarra play Brisbane on Friday before travelling back to face the Kings again on Sunday.
“We have made a pact as a group that we aren’t going to listen to stuff outside,” Norton said.
“We concentrate and control what we can control. Whatever goes on outside, we don’t care about that stuff.
“We are staying together. Everyone in our group has been through stages in their life where they have been hard done by.
“We are a really tough group of guys and that’s why Bevo has put this group together and believes in us.
“Once we believe in ourselves we will be one hell of a team.”
Norton believes the key, in part, to finding success lies in the Hawks ability to find consistency on offence.
“At some stages it is frustrating but on the bright side, we can be really really good,” he said.
“With [Demitrius Conger and Rotnei Clarke] they do need the ball in their hands so we have to give them some leeway sometimes and make them go make plays.
“When we do that and the offence flows we are one hell of a team. It is deflating but we are a tough group of guys who are going to stay together.”
