HOOPLA: Cliche rings true for inconsistent Hawks

No matter what the sport, players and coaches will reach for it at some stage, whether it’s the truth or not. However, it’s painfully rung true for Hawks coach Rob Beveridge this season – over and over again. 

Hoopla can’t recall watching a more painfully inconsistent side than  the 2019 Hawks. They haven’t just beaten every team in the league, they’ve had utterly commanding victories over every one of their rivals.

Similarly, their losses have been horrendous, evidenced by their dismal percentage (it could still prove the figure that costs them a finals berth).

It’s in those losses where going away from the game plan has cost them big. It almost cost them big against Cairns on Saturday. Given the make-up of the roster, it’s simply not something they can afford.

With a see-sawing mix of veterans and rookies and – Todd Blanchfield aside – a lack of reliable three-point shooting, it’s not a team that can ad-lib its way to wins

It’s something a very hot and bothered Beveridge re-iterated following the one-point win over Cairns.

“You sit down you watch countless games, you look at trends, you look at stats, weaknesses and you put a game plan together,” he said.

“You do all the walk throughs, you think you’re ready you come out and you execute. You think ‘oh this is pretty good’ and then all of a sudden you go away from what works.

“We’ve only got five games to go and it’s like we’re still learning a system that we know can work, we’ve beaten every team in the league and had some great wins.

“Unfortunately that’s what’s happened too many times, we just go away from it. Everything we spoke about we did – and then we didn’t. It was frustrating.” 

It leaves the question of whether the Hawks can make the playoffs. It’s no longer entirely in their hands. They’re relying on not just Brisbane or Adelaide to implode but both.

Intangibles aside, it’s perhaps more of a possibility than people might think. The Bullets play two games against Sydney this weekend and then host the Hawks. They then have Cairns and New Zealand to finish. 

Adelaide’s clash with Melbourne on Monday night is one of two against United in their final five outings while their final game is against Perth on the road. The door is still ajar, if only slightly.

“We’re absolutely, categorically saying we are going for the playoffs,” Beveridge said.

“There’s no point saying ‘let’s shut up shop and not worry about it’. That’s what I’m trying to avoid with our players because that can happen.

“A lot of the players are looking at their next job, they’re looking at their next contract, their agents are on the phone.

“Everybody’s written us off and I’m not being unrealistic, it’s going to be very difficult for us to make the playoffs, but mathematically we can.

“You hate the cliche one game at a time but that’s truly what it is.” 

PRESSURE MOUNTING ON GAZE

HEADING into the season there was no doubt Andrej Lemanis was the coach most under pressure, but Andrew Gaze was a close second.

Lemanis has responded well, turning a new-look Bullets team into a genuine title threat. The Kings are obviously contenders as well but, with the talent and resources at Gaze’s disposal, that was always going to be a mere pass mark.

It would take a monstrous capitulation for them to miss the finals, that would almost certainly cost Gaze his job, but a meek finals exit could see the same result.

The Kings have been hammered at home by the Hawks, 36ers and Wildcats in recent weeks. It was telling to hear Jerome Randle say he saw some quit in his team efforts after the Hawks loss.

That can often mean a playing group has, to some degree, stopped listening to their coach. It’s merely an observation from afar, HOOPLA isn’t aware of the inner workings of the Kings organisation.

Sydney (Goorjian years aside) has been one of the great underachieving sports franchises in Australia. It’s in a hurry for success and it’s unlikely Gaze’s unequivocal status as the nicest man in sport would be allowed to stand in the way of that objective.

It should make Hawks fans nervous. You can bet Rob Beveridge’s name would be on any shortlist to replace Gaze and Bevo has close friendships with the likes of Andrew Bogut, Kevin Lisch and Jerome Randle. 

Beveridge has an option in his favour with the Hawks for next season. He’s put off any talk about his future until season’s end but there’s no doubt decision-makers at Sydney will be watching closely. 

CANBERRA EXPERIMENT A PASS MARK

THE Hawks taking a game to Canberra was never a bad idea.

We’ve seen clubs in the NRL and AFL do similar and it’s in the Hawks interest to look at such opportunities.

The club was cagey early on as it explored the Canberra option for fear of angering the Hawks faithful, or worse, drawing mention of a dirty word (relocation).

In the end it was fairly well received – though more than one would be pushing the friendship. However, the heat was the obvious talking point.

In most instances you would say any arena without air conditioning is simply not fit to host an NBL clash. You can’t control the weather but, oppressive as it was, the heat wasn’t unseasonal. 

Cairns had taken eight flights to get there and the Hawks were coming off a road clash in Melbourne. We’d have certainly heard more about it if either had to back up on the same weekend.

It was worth it in the end to try something new but hopefully there’ll be lessons learned should further clashes be taken there in future.