NBL 2020: Hard work just beginning for Naar ahead of sophomore season

For the record, he finished his four seasons with St Mary's with 815 dimes, though he'd be the last to remind you of it.

That on-court vision is also evident in the stats on his first NBL campaign in which he averaged three assists in just 16 minutes on the floor.

Those numbers don't tell the full story of a late-season surge in both floor time and impact that ultimately saw him claim his first Boomers singlet.

Not bad for a debut season but there's not doubt the first he looked truly at home in NBL came with an 18-point display against Sydney in January - a performance then coach Rob Beveridge labeled the best he'd seen from young PG.

"Everything just went well for me that night, I made that first three and it's always good when you see that first shot go down," Naar said.

"It's not like I went into the game saying 'I'm going to score as many as I can'. The way I play is just take what's given and that night there were a lot of shots there.

"It was a real confidence builder, particularly against such a good defensive team with [Kevin] Lisch and [Andrew] Bogut and people like that. Hopefully I can draw from that and have a few more games like that this season."

The 25-year-old averaged 14 points and six assists in his sophomore season at St Mary's and will be looking to make the same leap in his second NBL campaign.

Hawks fans will be hoping the same thing but Naar is well aware things get harder, not easier, once the rookie year is in the bank.

"My freshman to sophomore year was actually pretty huge [leap] for me personally but you can't just expect that because you're a year older you're automatically better," he said.

"You're bit calmer because you know what to expect but at the same time there's a bit more expectation on you which has its pressure. Teams have seen me for a year they'll have better idea of what I do whereas last year I was just coming in as this unknown kid.

"There's obviously that little bit of confidence but I can't just go into these games a year older and expecting to be better. It's not something that just happens naturally.

"I've got to make sure I'm working even harder and hopefully I'll see the same sort of jump that I had [in college]."

The Hawks NBL Blitz campaign begins against Perth on Friday night, but what coach Matt Flinn's guard rotation will look like come the season-opener remains a mystery.

Teen sensation LaMelo Ball and NBA veteran Aaron Brooks have shown their class at different stages of the preseason, with Naar part of a local contingent that includes Sunday Dech and Angus Glover.

Regardless of the eventual make-up, Naar says the depth will no doubt bring the best out of the entire back-court.

"It's always good to go against other guys at a high level, iron sharpens iron," Naar said.

"We've all got different things we're good at so you can learn bits and pieces from other people and it gives us variety in our playing style because we all bring something different to the table.

"It just makes our team stronger and and at the end of the day that's what's most important."