His big guns struggled to fire but Illawarra coach Jacob Jackomas unearthed some bench depth many thought he would not have at his disposal in Saturday's nine-point loss to Sydney.
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It was a rough shooting night for star back-court pair Tyler Harvey and Justin Robinson who managed a combined 11-39 from the the field. The latter was a cold 0-9 from long range but did contribute with eight assists.
The fact the Hawks still went deep into the contest given the numbers is a silver lining for Jackomas as his second unit contributed 48 points.
Diminutive live-wire Lachie Dent proved the surprise packet in leading the Hawks with 19 points at a perfect 7-7 from the field, 5-5 from three-point territory.
Despite a limited preparation, import George King had 14 points and five rebounds, while Tim Coenraad's nine points and three rebounds came in less than eight minutes on the floor.
"I know people are worried about our depth but I do believe in that back end of the bench and I think we had guys that didn't play [on Saturday] that could probably help us as well," Jackomas said.
"We're not going to be afraid to play someone, especially if they're at practice every day and doing well every day.
"It's just going to be a thing where I don't know who we're going to go with. It is a good problem to have.
"If they deserve it, and guys are a little bit off, we'll play the next guy. Credit to Lachie, he put pressure on our starters.
"He kept us in it for that patch, and in that fourth [quarter] he was pretty damn good. Of course he needs to be pumped with what happened but he would've taken the win [instead]."
Having lifted the WEC roof with every shot that dropped, Dent admitted he felt well and truly in the zone when the shots started dropping.
"It felt like I was throwing it in the ocean for a second there," Dent said post-game.
"I probably ran out of gas. By halfway through the fourth I was kind of looking around to see who else could shoot one
"I remember making one and looking down and the bench was going crazy. That's probably more what it is [about], being able to see everyone back me.
"It's going to be the same, some people are going to have big nights, and we're all going to get behind them so that's really cool."
It's the type of performance the 22-year-old local product has regularly produced in the NBL1, but he feels quality time on the practice floor over the past three seasons has him primed to make his presence felt at NBL level.
"The last two years I've been guarded by the defensive player of the year every day at practice with Justin [Simon] and then Antonius [Cleveland]," he said.
"J-Rob (Robinson) is a pretty good defender himself, so going up against him every day does help. I've always had the belief that I could do it and [Saturday] was one of those nights."
While it was a career night on the personal front, it was one he'd readily trade in for a win.
"I'd take a win over a loss any day," Dent said.
"I think we've just got to get more stops and rebound the ball. [Giving up] 106 points is not our brand of basketball.
"We're going to go back to the drawing board on Monday and then come out and hopefully get more stops."
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
