Illawarra Hawks: Simon plays key role in charge towards 2021 NBL playoffs

Harvey was again superb in Tuesday night's win over the 36ers, scoring 23 points - including the match-winning three-pointer - as Illawarra survived a thriller at the WEC. But it was his teammate Justin Simon who provided the impetus for victory, standing tall in defence.

The 25-year-old mustered five defensive boards and three steals, while also tipping in 12 points, as the Hawks prevailed 71-66. The effort continued Simon's great run of form, averaging 5.5 rebounds per game, playing a key role in the Hawks being in the mix for the NBL playoffs.

His performances haven't escaped coach Brian Goorjian, who believes Simon's impact has been vital for the Hawks, especially since they parted ways with marquee signing Deng Adel.

"That was something that we weren't excited about, but what's happened is it's opened the door for Justin. There's just no other option, we're playing off him. And when we're on the defensive end, that's how we're going to win - and he's the head of the dog," the Hawks coach said.

"He did an unbelievable job on (Adelaide's Josh) Giddey, he did an unbelievable job with the Webster brothers (from the Breakers) in the last game. How he's evolved with the change in the team has been key, it gives us that hand to play defensively."

Read more: Illawarra Hawks survive thriller in Wollongong against 36ers

Illawarra has secured 14 victories and are banging on the door of the top four. They have won their past two games, despite losing key signings Adel and Cam Bairstow, while Tim Coenraad has come out of retirement as an injury replacement.

"The way this season has unfolded, we went with a younger group and had the two marquee guys there for those guys to play off,'' Goorjian said. "And that was going to be the balance of grooming some of these young guys and how we would roll offensively. And obviously that isn't happening, and we had to work out as a group where is the place we can go to be competitive and give us a chance to win?"

"It was the start of the Sydney game where we really started to pick up the defensive end of the floor. And everyone talked about it being a rugged game in Tasmania, it wasn't pretty but we again defended and kept a team in the 60s after they'd just beaten Perth. And then you've got a team coming here, playing for their lives with their full roster, and they just beat Sydney. And we got that done on Tuesday night."

Read more: Coenraad ready to repay the faith after receiving Hawks call up

Goorjian was also full of praise for Illawarra's youth for standing up against the league's top teams.

"It's a first-year group, it's a new culture we've trying to build and it's wonderful for this group to be playing in important games," he said.

"I'm not saying we were wonderful (against the 36ers), but I'm happy with where we went defensively and that the guys played to the game plan on how we were going to win. I am just really proud of the team."