Lachlan Olbrich is still pinching himself after a breakout performance in his first Christmas Day game.
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Now the Illawarra Hawks young gun is looking for more of the same from himself when he takes to the court on Sunday afternoon for his first ever New Year's Eve game.
Olbrich, who turns 20 the day before the Hawks battle Adelaide 36ers at WIN Entertainment Centre, starred in Illawarra's thrilling last-start win over the Sydney Kings.
Hawks interim coach Justin Tatum nominated Olbrich as his most valuable player, after the young centre came off the bench and contributed nine points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals to propel Illawarra to a 94-90 win over the Kings at Qudos Bank Arena.
Olbrich was happy to contribute to the win but stressed he was keen to do it on a more consistent basis, starting with Sunday's clash against his hometown club the 36ers.
"It was good to have a good game, especially on Christmas Day, it was my first Christmas Day game. It was good to walk out of the arena happy," he said.
It was the Adelaide-born player's best showing for the Hawks since impressing in the pre-season Blitz tournament.
"I'm just taking the highs with the lows and trying to get better as the season progresses and I think I'm getting more of a feel for the game and how it's played in the NBL," Olbrich said.
"I've been working a lot on my body over the year. Alex has a really nice strength program for all of us, so we've been working on our bodies 24/ 7 basically.
"I've also been working on just more the mental side of the games, like knowing what to do in different scenarios and how I can insert myself into the game and put an impact on it.
"Fortunately I was able to do that against the Kings.
"I was able to get some crucial rebounds. A lot of that is luck but I was making sure I was battling low and being as physical I can....and fighting for positions.
"And I just happened to get some lucky bounces on a couple of them which I won't complain about.
"I'm just trying to be a physical presence. It doesn't really matter that I'm 19, I feel like I'm one of the strongest in the league, so I'll just keep being physical."
On a team front Olbrich said the Hawks see the win over the Kings as a 'momentum builder".
"We came off that Tassie loss at home and we kind of all came together and said, yeah, we really need this one, if we're going to do something about making the play in," he said.
"Winning against the Kings was definitely a momentum builder. It's up to us now to try and win as many games as possible in a row.
"Playing at home again is great. Wollongong always gives us a nice crowd. They're always getting behind us and supporting us.
"We'll be happy to bring it back to them and hopefully have a really nice win against Adelaide."
The New Year's Eve clash against the 36ers at the WEC tips-off at 5.30pm.
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.
