HAWKS captain Dave Andersen has a legendary basketball IQ. Young-gun Daniel Grida reckons he's learned more from the four-time Olympian than just about anyone else.
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It meant there was plenty of irony in the standout moment of Grida's debut NBL campaign - a show-stopping block on star Perth import Terrico White - that only came as the result of an Andersen misstep.
"Bevo [Rob Beveridge] just told me to go out there and chase Terrico over every screen, don't let him shoot open jumpers," Grida recalls.
"It was on that baseline play and I just thought 'OK I've got to chase him over everything'. At the last second I was yelling to Dave [Andersen] that I was going to chase over and Dave stepped the wrong way.
"I just thought 'oh man I'm going to have to quickly run under this' and as I was running under I saw them throw the lob up. I just thought 'jump and see what happens'.
"My life flashed before my eyes a little bit, he could've got me and ended my career. He might have thought he'd thrown me off and got an easy one.
"Luckily it turned out my way that time but I'm going to keep jumping at everyone. I don't care if I get dunked on, just watch it'll probably happen this year, but I'm going to keep jumping.
"That's how I want to be seen, that's what I do. I play my hardest every single time and that play sums it up."
Andersen may have a different view of the scout that day but the chase-down block on one of the league's top dogs says everything about the 20-year-old's mentality.
That desire to tear he league a new one is shared by the rest of the club's youth brigade - and it's about all they have in common when you look at their respective journeys.
LaMelo Ball became Wollongong's most famous resident, and the virtual face of the NBL, before setting foot on the floor - before he could even buy a beer at Steelers.
Four million social media followers, a realistic shot at going No. 1 in next year's NBA Draft, he's sure to grab every second headline during his time in Wollongong.
Certain media reports this week have suggested it may not be the entire season but it'll be a helluva ride however long it lasts.
Then there's Sam Froling, a seven-footer with NBA Draft aspirations of his own, looking to match, or better, the efforts of older brother Harry in his first NBL campaign.
If some of the playful smack talk between the pair is anything to go by the youngest of the Frolings is confident that he can do just that.
In short, it's a crop of youngsters ready to make a statement. That bodes well for coach Matt Flinn and the Hawks faithful.
However, if there's a guy among them with the biggest point to prove, it's home-grown rookie Angus Glover - thus far as luckless as a Kembla Grange punter, but so talented he might just prove the pick of this uber-gifted bunch.
Not to mention the fact he's as Wollongong as a Saturday-night blue at The Harp.
On Sunday he'll make his first NBL appearance three years, and three knee reconstructions, since making his last one. In fact plenty of people thought it would be the last one.
Some athletes struggle to make it back from one ACL tear. Some get broken by the second. Three is the death blow for most yet Glover is back, dunking like he was never away.
It shows a mental fortitude even greater than his on-court ability, which is far from insubstantial, and may yet prove his strongest attribute.
That work ethic and dedication to the craft first caught the eye of club legend Glen Saville when Glover was barely out of kindergarten.
"I remember going into training sessions in summer when it was stinking hot at the Snakepit and his mum (Mandy) would be out there rebounding for him as he was getting shots up," Saville recalls.
"She'd just look at me and say 'he can't get enough'. He was only 11 or 12 then. It's weird now. He's probably taller than me, probably bigger and stronger. He talks to me in this deep voice and I think 'who the hell are you? I remember when he was that tiny little kid'.
"You couldn't possibly forget him. He was at all the games, getting autographs, he would be at all the junior camps we ran. Now he gets to play for the club.
"He's had three serious knee injuries as well so to get through that stuff and be back is a testament to how hard he's worked as well."
That return has been a long hard slog but Glover says his NBL return has still managed to creep up on him, his first full preseason in three years flying by.
"It's one of those things that feels a lot longer than three years but at the same time has come around quickly, especially the last six months being back and healthy," Glover said.
"Starting off in the youth league and then going and playing some NBL1 really helped my confidence. Flinny and all the guys have put confidence in me.
"Growing up watching all those kind of guys play since I was very little, Flinny was there for a long time, obviously [Mat] Campbell played while I was watching.
"Having those guys at the club while I'm at the club is pretty cool. I know it's a cliche but not a lot of people get to play for their home club and I'm just really excited to finally get back and play."
He's been Ball's chief rival in dunk-off's through the preseason and, while watching on leaves some others tense, the 21-year-old simply laughs the concern off.
"I haven't been tentative once since I've been back," he said.
"I've had some people tell me not to jump anymore which is actually quite funny. It's my job, I can't really go out there and think about my knee.
"I got my jump back pretty quickly and I've always loved being in the gym. As much as rehab was a grind at times the gym was also my happy place at the same time.
"I could take my frustrations out on the weights and I still got to shoot most days. Some days I had to get held back a little bit but I love shooting in the gym and I get there every day if I can.
"Injuries are a part of sport, any sport, but hopefully there's no more injuries for a long, long time."
It's certainly a sentiment shared by his club and its fans, who'd like to see that long, long time played out primarily on the WEC floor he first graced as a seven-year-old floor wiper.
It's a possibility, though the attention he grabbed at his last NBL summit before tearing his ACL suggests bigger things may still be in offing.
No one would begrudge him that either but, after the longest and hardest of slogs, Glover's chief concern is repaying the faith of a club that last year signed him to a two-year deal despite his horror run with injury.
"I can tell you I've had people literally tell me to retire," Glover said.
"To hear people tell me to give it up and have the club not listen, to show the faith in me having not played an NBL game for so long, to have that belief in me to still perform at this level was huge.
"Throughout those two years the club really cared about me as a person more than me as a player. They were really good in looking after me mentally.
"I still remember when the guys were in camp and I redid my ACL, I had every single guy on the phone calling me. I can't thank the club enough for sticking by me.
"I couldn't be happier with where I'm at and it's time to go out there and repay that faith."
He's not alone on that score. Flinn and the Illawarra faithful will be hoping the investment in youth pays off big. There's every indication it will and, if talent is anything to go by, they should enjoy it while they can.