Resurgent Hawks look to continue upward trajectory

The Hawks managed a comfortable win over Cairns last Friday before claiming Sunday’s clash with Adelaide at the buzzer in a thriller.

It was their third straight win, their second in as many outings against the 36ers, and puts them back in the playoff hunt.

With nine of their final 15 games at home, it’s a picture that looks a whole lot rosier than it did three weeks ago following big losses to the Sixers and Bullets.

“A couple of weeks ago we were on the verge of imploding as a group but we stuck together and we’ve won some really, really  good tough game,” Beveridge said.

“It was a sensational win and I’m ecstatic for the group because the heart and character these guys have shown has just been sensational. 

“We’re only scratching the surface with the team. We haven’t gelled as much as what we wanted to, I said that a couple of weeks ago.

“We’ve played however many games now, but we’re starting to figure out where we all fit in the scheme of things.” 

Things looked far more dire early on as Adelaide shot out to a 14-point lead in the first term, forcing Beveridge to call an uncharacteristically early first-quarter timeout.

He’ll want to bottle what he said after his side turned the 14-point deficit into a one-point lead by quarter-time.

“The way they started I thought we were going to lose by 40,” Beveridge said.

“We started with Whitey turning the ball over first play and there were two or three others straight away and that’s what [Adelaide] feed on.

“I thought ‘oh geez, we’re in trouble here’ That was the closest I’ve come to subbing all five [starters] out.

“[The timeout] was just about re-focusing and saying ‘all right, we’re starting again’ and and we chipped away. That’s what I was really happy with.”

Jordair Jett sealed the deal with his lay-up on the buzzer, but Beveridge put the win down to keeping the run-and-gun Sixers to just 86 points.

“We’ve been inconsistent, we’re up and down but one of the non-negotiables is that, defensively, we’re having a crack,” Beveridge said.

“They’re such a prolific team offensively but I think we did an amazing job through the game and down the stretch defensively, which was very pleasing.”