Hickey making up for lost NBL time under Tatum

The 24-year-old clocked an impressive 14 minutes a game for an injury-ravaged Illawarra last season, his high-energy performances earning him plaudits and a full-time spot on the Hawks roster ahead of Jacob Jackomas' second season in charge.

Having averaged 20 minutes a game over his final 10 outings last season, playing just 21 minutes across the opening nine games this year was hard to cop. While he anticipated the arrival of Justin Robinson, AJ Johnson and Biawali Bayles would put some dent in his minutes, the Redfern-raised guard says it was a mental battle to stay locked in.

"I'm not going to lie, there's been struggles with it," Hickey said.

"Having certain expectations coming into the year, [being] promised certain things and those promises not being lived up to but, regardless, I'm a professional. I'm going to come in and do what I need to do every day, whether that be a small role or a big role.

"I'm a competitor and I want to win. Whatever JT needs from me, if he needs me to lift the boat, I'll lift the boat, if he needs me to jump off a bridge, I'll jump off a bridge. My mindset right right now is just being the best teammate I can be.

"I feel like I've done a really good job of just staying ready when those opportunities come this year."

He's done so in logging 10-plus minutes in six of the Hawks last nine games, finishing with a season-high 10 points with two offensive boards and two steals in Saturday's loss to Adelaide. He puts the newfound spark down to an honest relationship with Tatum.

"I think the best thing about [Tatum] is there's no confusion about roles," Hickey said.

"The one thing I got with JT was clarity on where I'm at and the reasoning as to why I'm not playing, or why I am playing, whatever it is.

"It just helped me come to terms with it a bit bette rather than not being told anything and being left in the dark wondering why I'm not playing.

"That's just an example, but I feel like he's done that on the whole team front, just being upfront about everything and making sure that he's very clear and concise with everything he's saying.

"At the end of the day, as long as somebody's telling you the truth in any type of relationship, you're going to respect them. That's what he does really well."

The timing of recent opportunity is crucial for Hickey given he's off-contract and far from done as a pro.

"You'll see that around the league, there's a lot of guys that end up [benched] and don't even get an opportunity to showcase what they can do," he said.

"That's definitely something that was a worry of mine, and also a big reason as to why I work so hard at training and rock up here every day and prove that I'm capable of being out there.

"I'd love to come back to Illawarra. I love it here, I've made a little home for myself, but [possibly leaving] is something that is a reality in the professional world.

"It's something you've got to keep on your mind, but you can't think about it too much. It's a weird paradox. You can get in your head too much, but as long as I do what I do, that side will take care of itself."

Playing a role in a playoff run certainly wouldn't hurt Hickey's chances of earning a new deal - with Illawarra or elsewhere - and he's adamant its not behind his side despite falling into a three-game hole heading into Thursday's road showdown with Perth.

"I have the utmost confidence in this group, and so does everybody else," he said.

"Going into any game the belief is that we can beat anybody in this league. The team that we have right now is so deep and so talented, the only ones that can beat us is us. That's the genuine truth.

"Perth is a very good challenge for us to see where we're at with that, whether we crumble or whether we rise to the occasion. Only time we tell. We're on our heels a little bit, so we need to be really locked in for this game and expecting them to throw everything at us."