Having struggled in recent seasons early on, starting well this NBL campaign was a priority for the Illawarra Hawks. Subscribe now for unlimited access . Login or signup to continue reading That's why head coach Justin Tatum was such a happy man after his team downed Cairns Taipans 102-75 in Perth on Saturday night.
Tatum was also pleased that the resounding win at HBF Stadium signified in his mind that the Hawks had regained a bit of their 'spunk' from last season. 'It was a nice way to start. I don't think we've had a win in our first game for a few years now," he said.
"We 100 per cent wanted to start this season off well. "I was telling the guys in the locker room that I thought that we lost our spunk a little bit from last year. "Our practices and some of the exhibition games we didn't have that same fire, so I wanted to make sure we found a way to get it back because at the end of the day we always feel like we are the underdogs, we want to keep playing like we haven't done anything yet.
" Just as importantly for the Hawks their new imports Darius Days and Trey Kell enjoyed solid outings. Days was particularly impressive and named player-of-the-match after draining 20 points and pulling down 12 boards. The 24-year-old shot the ball impressively as well, making eight of his 15 shots.
His combination with fellow front-court stars Sam Froling and Lachlan Olbrich had Tatum excited about their potential to cause teams pain. "I told Sammy in the locker room I could play you two together and it's going to cause a lot of problems for a lot of teams," he said. "It's just a luxury.
It's one of the first times we done it, we talked about it before we got here but my goal was to play those two and Darius together and see how it works out for us." It worked a treat with Froling especially dominant, finishing the game with 19 points and eight rebounds. Olbrich also continued his good run of late, chipping in with 12 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
But it was the double-double of Days which had Tatum and Froling excited after the match. "He is a hilarious dude, hilarious and a phenomenal player too. We saw that tonight," Froling said of Days.
"He is still learning. He has played just three games over here. When he works out this league and gets it going he is going to be a massive piece for us.
" Froling also talked up the defence of Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, stating his team-mate turned the game the Hawks way with his relentless defensive display against the Taipans. "Wani turned that defence up and brought everyone else with him and we got up and got it done," the Hawks co-captain said. "They made a run at us but it was Wani who stepped it up defensively and brought all of us with him.
"It's important we stick to our stuff offensively and defensively going forward." This view was backed by Hawks head coach Tatum, who was pleased to see his team getting back to playing like it was at the end of last season. "The momentum from last season wasn't there, we had to find a way to get it back and remind the guys what we did last year," Tatum said.
"Some people said it was a fluke or luck or whatever but we had to make sure it was permanent and it meant something. "We got back to some of it in this game, which let us know that defensively we are good, offensively we are even better." Illawarra return to Wollongong to take on the Brisbane Bullets on Friday night much to the pleasure of Tatum.
"I can't wait to see the WEC packed and everyone in the 'Gong turning up. We don't want 2000 people there we want 8000, the rest sitting outside waiting for a win," he said. "Illawarra deserves this and we are working to deserve these home wins and for everyone being happy.
" Froling added there was a sense of excitement in Wollongong that the Hawks could deliver something special in NBL25. "Just building off last year, this group is similar to last year and then Darius and Trey are massive added pieces to the compliments we already have, which is exciting," he said. "It's early days but what we're building well.
JT always says we don't want to be perfect now we want to be perfect at the end of the year. "The way we are playing now, it's good but we can get better and by the end of the year we want to hit that perfect mark." .
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. More from Basketball Newsletters & Alerts DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team.
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