Hawks coach Rob Beveridge concedes there is now no margin for error for his troops as they still hold out hope of pulling off the miraculous by securing an NBL finals berth.
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Despite falling to a 14 point loss to Perth Wildcats on Friday night, Illawarra continue to walk the finals tightrope with four games remaining in their campaign.
The first of those comes against Cairns Taipans on Monday in Wollongong before they face-off against Brisbane Bullets and New Zealand twice.
They will need to win all four matches to have any chance of gunning down the fourth-placed Adelaide 36ers (13-12).
Illawarra (11-13) are sixth on the ladder, with Brisbane (12-13) also still in the hunt to claim a finals berth of their own. Melbourne United, Sydney Kings and Perth Wildcats have already nailed down spots in the top four.
Adelaide face the toughest run home of the three competing clubs, with a clash against New Zealand this week followed by difficult encounters with Melbourne (home) and Perth (away).
With the 36ers fate completely out of the Hawks’ hands, Beveridge knows his squad must only focus on the task in front of them.
“We have got four games in nine days and it is going to be a massive challenge. Right now, we can’t lose any more games. That is the reality,” Beveridge said. “We are going for that fourth spot. We are still in it but if we lose one more game we are done.”
Beveridge was keen to see a repeat of the effort his side showed in their loss to Perth when they host Cairns at WIN Entertainment Centre.
But the NBL championship winning coach felt his men had room for improvement on the glass.
“I am really proud of all the guys but we have to do a better job of rebounding,” Beveridge said. “Perth won the possession game. That’s why they had 17 offensive rebounds. We have got to tidy that up so we can’t allow that to happen against Cairns.
“Defensively we have to get better. We gave up 104 points. We have to get better defensively and rebound.”
Illawarra will welcome back bench weapon Tim Coenraad for Monday’s home stand against the Cairns Taipans.
The veteran forward didn’t make the trip across the country to Perth as he welcomed the birth of his first son in Wollongong.
“It is just wonderful news for the Coenraad family and we totally supported him and wanted him to be with his wife and his new son,”
“He was only going to arrive on [Friday afternoon], which is just not right so he will be back in the team. He will give us a lot more experience and offensive punch.”
