'Wonderful' Hawks story not lost on rival coach Scott Roth

The Hawks will head to the island to take on the JackJumpers on Wednesday, with the winner to progress straight to a semi-final series with Perth.

A loss would see the Hawks return home needing to stay alive against the winner of Sydney and New Zealand.

It's a fate Roth's determined to resign the Hawks to, but he's still marvelled at the turnaround counterpart Tatum has produced since taking the reins in November.

"When you inherit a team in the middle of the season that's not functioning very well, to flip that team over ... there's a lot to be said about who you are and the character you are as a coach," Roth said of Tatum.

"It's very, very difficult what [Tatum] did. It's just a wonderful story, and there's been a lot of wonderful stories out of here.

"I'm extremely pro-coach, I love the coaches in this league and their success stories. Someone like Justin Schueller in Brisbane, he gets his first job there and flips that team over. Incredible.

"Obviously [Adelaide's] Scott Ninnes comes in to his hometown team and does a hell of a job. Now you've got JT. It's a fantastic story."

Wednesday's seeding qualifier presents an intriguing match-up between two franchises strikingly similar, but poles apart at this juncture.

Roth's now in his third year at the helm, on the back of a full year's prep prior to his first season, which also came following a long apprenticeship in Perth.

Tatum simply planned on being a US-based scout when he linked with Illawarra last year, and was only thrust into his first professional head coaching role in November.

While he's now bullish about his team's championship claims, the playoffs was the furthest thing from his mind when taking the wheel of a 2-7 car mid-crash.

"I was on my third glass of wine when I found out that I had to come and take over the team, so I had to get it together quick," Tatum said.

"It was just 'hey, we've got to find a way to compete 40 minutes'. We just had to figure it out on the court as we played. I talked to the guys and said 'everybody starts with a clean sheet'.

"Everything we'd done the prior seven weeks, we just threw it out the window and said 'let's rewrite our own story'. We went from there.

"I always tell them there's no going back from now on. The guys trusted what I've asked them to do when I took over and they see how it's blossomed."

One thing both coaches have in common is the way they've managed to rally the fanbases of small-market franchises.

The JackJumpers have not played in front of an empty seat all year, while the Hawks will expect the same whenever they return to the WEC this post-season.

It will be no different in Hobart Wednesday week when the Hawks return to a venue at which they secured a memorable - and ultimately pivotal - double-overtime win in January.

"It wasn't great [against them] the first two games, but then the third game with double overtime - it was one of the noisiest crowds and venues I've ever been in my life," Tatum said.

"It was good for us to find a way to get a win out of there and knowing that, when we go back on Wednesday, anything can happen.

"Coach Roth has them going, they've been going for a while. They're an experienced group, a very tough group.

"We had probably the toughest stretch of teams to play to make it to the playoffs and we knew it was going to be a grind.

"It's really testimony to the guys who stayed locked in knowing we had to win so many games. We got tested towards the end, which is going to help us for the [finals] run."

The JackJumpers faithful has become something of a sixth player on the floor for their team, but Roth said it would be foolish for any side to overly bank on home-court advantage.

"I do believe anyone can win this," Roth said.

"I think home court is going to be irrelevant at some point or another, and I think all six teams are good enough to win a championship.

"Some teams obviously have home court advantage, which will be difficult to beat, but it just takes a little swing of the pendulum.

"A call, a momentum play, something that gets you over the top, can create you a pathway to the championship."