Unsung Hickey sparks Asia Cup charge

Anyone who’s ever seen Will Hickey play knows he gives everything on the court. He brings unmatched energy and a relentless drive to chase every ball like few others.

We saw it in the Championship-winning run with the Illawarra Hawks during that famous Finals Series, and now we’re seeing it again at the FIBA Asia Cup with the Australian Boomers.

Simply put, Hickey refuses to be beaten. He refuses to give an inch.

“Let's talk about Davo Hickey, because he was Player of the Game in 15 minutes,” Peter Hooley said.

“No one really played over 20 minutes, but he had 14 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, no turnovers. He does a little bit of everything.

“He's one of those guys that if you had an open pool to draft locals in the NBL, he's gonna go incredibly high, because he's a starting level talent.

“He can play 30, 35 minutes a game and win you a ball game. He proved that in the Championship Series last year. But if you need, for the time being, to bring him off the bench, still play him, stagger his minutes, he's not gonna worry about that. He's just gonna go out there and prove, you know what? That's fine. ‘If that's where you want to start me, I'm gonna make sure that when the game's finished, I'm on the court’.”

Hickey played a starring role in a massive Australian team effort to smash Iran by 44 points in the Semi-Final, and advance to the tournament decider.

Now, he has the Chinese team in his sights.

“I’m putting a target on all of them, I’ll put it on all of China if I need to. I’m here to win a basketball game and if you’re in my way, it is what it is,” Hickey said post-game.

“That's ‘Davo’, man,” former NBL Champion Damon Lowery said.

“That is the Davo we know and love. He is not shy to put his feelings out there, outspoken, extremely confident, not cocky, but extremely confident in himself. He's not gonna go out there and take China lightly.”

Lowery described Hickey as one of the most underrated talents, both in the NBL and on the international stage.

“Davo was sensational, man. He did all that in the second quarter. At the half, he might've had 12, 5 and 5,” he continued.

“In transition, he's a nightmare. Defensively, he's a long praying mantis. His basketball instincts are exceptional.

“What I liked were those zero turnovers, his pick and roll play, he's making the perfect passes out of that. He's not taking any bad shots. But one thing that a lot of people probably aren’t familiar with Davo is his one-on-one package. We don't get to see a lot of it with Illawarra Hawks. But if you put that guy on the island on a 45-degree angle at the elbow, his first step is quick. He's got a nice hesitation dribble. He gets to the rim at ease. And then once he gets to the rim, you say, that's right, he's 6'5". So Davo's a complete problem for opposition teams.

“Good to see him balling out.”

Lowery emphasised that Hickey would be central to the Boomers’ push for another Asia Cup title on Monday morning.

“Davo, with Illawarra, I felt like he was the leader of the team, the inspirational leader. Not the captain, but the leader. And I feel like even in his Boomers team, there's lots of leadership there. Jack McVeigh, Jack White, Xavier Cooks. But then there's Davo, that people kind of maybe don't see at that level because this is his first stint with the Boomers. But Davo just goes out there and balls. You see him in huddles. He's communicating with all the guys. He has a nice healthy chip on his shoulder. A healthy chip,” he added.

“He can tell you about all the slights that he's had throughout his career and how he's had to do it tough. But he doesn't use that in a way that takes away from the team. So I feel like the way he's going about it is great for him. Confidence is only going to get higher and hopefully he can have another big NBL26.”

The Boomers take on China at 2am AEST on Monday morning, live on ESPN, Kayo and Disney+.