It's little wonder that the belief among Illawarra Hawks players heading into their New Year's Eve showdown against the Adelaide 36ers is 'through the roof'.
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Fighting back from 18 points down early in the second quarter to beat back-to-back NBL champions the Sydney Kings, will do that.
The Christmas Day triumph in the hostile environment of Qudos Bank Arena kept alive the 'freeway series' and also ended an eight-game losing streak against the Kings.
But more importantly according to interim Hawks coach Justin Tatum, the 94-90 win signalled the death of the old Illawarra, stating this group of players would fight tooth and nail for a win regardless of who or where they're playing.
"The old us is out the window. This group that we're starting to see to compete, they're 18 down, they're 18 up, they're going to give it their all ... I'm just happy to get a win out of these guys and not go home and take a spanking," Tatum said.
His captain Tyler Harvey, who had featured in the previous eight losses to the Kings, said the Christmas Day triumph was huge for the Hawks.
"I was just telling our owner that I don't think that I've ever come into this building and the game hasn't been within two points. It's a tough place to play, every single game we play against Sydney is a battle," he said.
"But to come here, we had a good turnout with the crowd, to win that game for them, especially on Christmas ... our fans were here tonight ... it was a big win for us, it's a good momentum building win for us.
"We were down 18 in the second quarter and usually that goes south pretty quickly for us but not anymore, we kept going, JT kept us engaged, and just trusted the game plan and eventually it cracked open for us."
That game plan included going inside to use the Hawks' post presence but Illawarra had little luck early on as Sydney raced to a 29-17 quarter-time lead.
The Kings extended that lead to 18 points early in the second before the Hawks came to life, winning the second (29-19) and third (31-25) quarters to head into the final term leading 77-73.
The Hawks had a good spread of scoring, with five players contributing 10 or more points against the Kings.
They were led by the big three of Sam Froling (20 points and eight rebounds), Gary Clark (13 points, seven rebounds and three assists) and Harvey (15 points and four rebounds).
Justin Robinson (12 points, four rebounds and five assists) and Hyunjung Lee (13 points and three rebounds) also came up big for the Hawks.
But it is hard to argue with Tatum that Lachlan Olbrich was the Hawks' most valuable player.
The 19-year-old's statistics of nine points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals were Olbrich's best since impressing in the pre-season Blitz tournament.
"Lachy Olbrich was MVP tonight," Tatum said post-match.
"He was the MVP of the game. Nine points and 10 rebounds, he was the reason why it started that spark, because once again Gary and Sam didn't have it going early, the ball's rattling in and out for them and he came in and just gave us some energy, just gave us some life, so he's the MVP of this."
This view was shared by Harvey, who added Olbrich's game-winning performance also freed-up his team-mates to shine.
"Lachy has a unique skill. He can handle the ball well, he can pass, he is slithery, he is driving, that Euro step of his, not many bigs can do that and it is hard to guard for a big," he said.
"His performance opened the game for us. We were in a tough spot.
"Like coach said you don't know who it's going to be on any given night, but Lachy stays ready, he stays prepared and tonight was his moment and he let it shine."
The Hawks have won four of six games since Tatum took over the coaching reigns from Jacob Jackomas.
The victory over the Kings, which came just two days after a tough home loss to Tasmania JackJumpers, has improved the Hawks record to 6-9.
Harvey said belief among the playing group heading into Sunday's clash against Adelaide in Wollongong, was 'riding high'.
"The belief is through the roof," he said.
" If you look at our bench throughout the game, everyone is engaged, everyone is standing up, it doesn't matter if they're playing or not.
"JT does a great job in saying it is everybody, it's a collective, it's not just the starting five, it is everybody on the court, so that goes a long way."
Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
