IF you need any reminding of how deep Illawarra's Perth hoodoo runs consider the fact that star import Josh Boone has as many wins in Perth in seven games as the Hawks have in their past 32 - one.
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Of course Hawks fans don't need reminding about what a graveyard RAC Arena has been for their club. Tim Coenraad is the third-longest serving Hawk of all time and that win in November 2016 is his lone victory in the west.
A win there on Friday would even be a first for Dave Andersen, in a career that's seemingly run out of firsts to achieve. On the plus side, young guard Sunday Dech is yet to taste defeat in eight games at the venue... though they've all come in a Perth uniform.
The fact Boone is 1-6 in Perth after two and half seasons with heavyweights Melbourne United, including a championship and grand final appearance, speaks to how tough it is to win there.
It is a venue unique in the NBL, but for a veteran of 256 NBA games and an NCAA championship-winner with UConn, it's just another floor.
"I never fear going anywhere, I don't think any of us do," Boone said.
"Myself, I enjoy the challenge and I love playing in front of a hostile crowd. I've played in front of 30-some-thousand people that were not on our side.
"It's nothing really new to me, I don't think it's really new to any of these guys either. It's just a matter of us rising to the occasion."
You can bet NBA veteran Aaron Brooks and prospective No. 1 Draft pick LaMelo Ball share that mentality as the Hawks look to avoid an 0-2 start to season in what will be their only regular season trip to Perth this season.
It follows a first-up loss to the Bullets in Wollongong last week, one that's seen observers question how long it could take for a roster with so many new pieces to click into gear.
Boone isn't surprised to hear it, but he's seen enough in his career to know it can turn quickly.
"In Melbourne last year we started off the season really slow, there were multiple times throughout the year where people said we weren't really there," Boone said.
"We ended up in the grand final and really had a chance to win it. Whenever you bring a new team together is always takes some time. Not only do we have a lot of new players, we have a new coach as well so everything's entirely new.
"I think we've made a lot of progress and I thought we saw it in the Brisbane game. We did a lot of good things in the game. Ultimately we missed 21 threes, missed some lay-ups. You have both of those and you win the game.
"There were still breakdowns here and there but there's still good things to be taken from it."
How Boone and AJ Ogilvy can work in tandem in the 4-5 was one of the more pressing questions after the Bullets loss, but the 34-year-old is confident they can make it work.
"I think we've done a pretty good job so far of learning to read each other, learning to see when one of us is rolling and the other automatically pops," Boone said.
"We're both pretty high IQ guys on the basketball court as well so I think we've done really well working off each other.
"The good thing about our team is we have a lot of depth, we have a lot of players that can play multiple positions so we can match up with any team."