Hawks forward Tim Coenraad knows former teammate Demitrius Conger is bound to make Adelaide 36ers a more potent force, but hopes Illawarra can take advantage of his late arrival at the club this weekend.
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Conger was officially unveiled as an Adelaide 36ers player on Monday after the club showed Dominican guard Adris De Leon the exit door last week.
He will arrive in Australia on Thursday and is expected to play his first game for his new club when they host the Hawks on Saturday afternoon. Illawarra were priced out of efforts to retain Conger in the off-season after his outstanding debut NBL campaign saw him finish runner-up in MVP polling.
Coenraad is one of three remaining Hawks players to witness that campaign firsthand. And the veteran is all too aware what he can offer the 36ers.
“[Adelaide’s] Joey Wright is the sort of coach that challenges his players to beat players one-on-one and I think Conger is one of the most perfect fits for that which they are going to get,” Coenraad said.
“He is a tremendous one-on-one player, particularly when he is running downhill. At the other end of the floor, he is long and when he is locked in, he can defend as well.
"I think we need to take advantage of the fact that they might not be gelled yet.
"The one thing they can do is run. The one thing they will want to do, is run. Running the floor and getting easy buckets doesn't require any offensive chemistry.
"If we can force them to play more of a half court game and then take advantage of the times we want to run. If we can dictate then we will be a good chance to win the game."
Adelaide have lost four consecutive matches heading into Conger’s debut for the club.
The 36ers had also tried to recruit Conger in the off-season, but encountered similar financial constraints to the Hawks.
Conger was sensational in his first NBL campaign, scoring 19.7 points per game, as well as 5.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steal.
Meanwhile, the Illawarra Hawks confirmed plans to take their Australia Day game against Cairns Taipans to Canberra this year.