IT'S a brand new initiative and Illawarra coach Brian Goorjian feels the upcoming NBL Cup will go a long way to shaping the final post-season picture, as the Hawks look to avoid a third straight loss en route to the Melbourne bubble.
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The tournament, which will take over Melbourne for a month from next weekend, will see wins and losses tallied on both the regular season and specific NBL Cup ladder, adding eight games to the broader schedule in a season that's undergone constant rejigging amid changing COVID conditions.
The Hawks will take on Sydney at Homebush on Sunday before shifting south for the Cup, with their campaign tipping off on opening day against Cairns, a team they beat twice on a 4-0 start to the season.
They've since dropped to 4-2 following losses to South East Melbourne and Melbourne United, but Goorjian says there's no comparing the two defeats as far as performances go.
"The guys left it on the floor. Even though we struggled guarding [United] it wasn't from lack of effort, the bench was alive tonight, everyone that came in gave it everything they had," Goorjian said.
"We [weren't] going to go undefeated, we're going to take our lumps, we said that when we were winning. We're going to get hit, we're going to get knocked around a little bit, but we've got to keep getting better.
"I'm looking at it now and saying 'are we getting better each game?' This hub's going to bring huge challenges. All of a sudden you're going in there and playing eight games in three weeks and a lot of teams are going to come out of that different to how they went in.
"As one of the guys in the locker room said, 'we've got 30 more [games] to go'. We've just got to keep this team together and keep moving it forward. We had a down one last game [against Phoenix], a real disappointing performance but [Wednesday night] we were back where we were in those wins.
"We played at the level we played at when we won, we just played a team that was a little bit better, a little bit hotter."
The clash with the undefeated league leaders was one of the games of the season, leaving plenty of fans clamouring for a rematch, but Goorjian said it's not something he's remotely focused on as he looks to halt a two-game slide.
"We're certainly not looking at ourselves and targeting United and [saying] that's the team we've got to beat, there's a whole row to go," Goorjian said.
"I'm certainly not hanging my head, nor is my team, about their performance. There's certainly disappointment but we were playing the best team in the league, undefeated, we had a good chance tonight and we knew that coming in.
"We needed to get certain things done to do that and we're just not quite there yet. I know they got some open shots and the defence wasn't perfect but I thought they hit some big shots in that start of that game to really put us behind the eight-ball.
"We were six down, two down, four down, we were chasing all game from that start. They just had tremendous confidence, they hit seven of 11 from the three-point line in the first quarter.
"Second half we bunkered down much better defensively, we worked our tail off. It was anybody's game with a minute to go and they got the offensive rebound, they get to the foul line and that was the difference in the game.
"The next challenge is waiting for us, cross-town rivals, on Sunday so we're not going to be thinking about Melbourne. It's a huge challenge, cross-town rival, big game, we want to step up and get a win there."
It was the second game in which Goorjian had his full roster at his disposal after being largely without Deng Adel and Cam Bairstow over the opening month, and the six-time championship-winner admits he's still working out some rotational kinks in his deep roster.
"To be truthful it just sends the message we haven't played a team [like that] yet," Goorjian said.
"I know [United] had guys out but the thing about them is they're so deep. [Mitch] McCarron played more, [Shea] Ili wasn't there but they had the other kid [Yudai Baba] there and had no problem with depth. They had all international players on the floor, they go 14-deep.
"I put this on me, with Emmett [Naar] and Deng Adel in foul trouble, we needed more out of that bench. Over those four wins we were going nine, 10, 11 deep and I cut that rotation down to about six or seven when Adel got into foul trouble and I tightened the belt down the stretch trying to get the win.
"The guys that played out there played big minutes and played their tails off to stay in it. The way [United] were shooting the ball to start the game, and the confidence they had, they had an opportunity to run away from us but we didn't let it go. We stayed in there and fought it out."