Hawks' "new level of excellence"

After stuttering their way to a pair of Round 16 defeats against fellow Finals hopefuls Cairns and Adelaide, the Illawarra Hawks rebounded in a big way in Round 17 and have found themselves back in the top six.

The Hawks faced the biggest challenge in the NBL in their opening game on Thursday night when they travelled to Perth to take on the Wildcats, and they swept aside one of the NBL’s in-form teams by 18 points on its own home deck.

Then, on Sunday, the Breakers surged to an early double-digit lead before they were systematically pegged back by Gary Clark and company, which led to a hard-fought four-point win for Justin Tatum’s side.

NBL analyst Derek Rucker says the manner in which Illawarra defeated New Zealand showcased a new angle to one of the competition’s most improved teams.

“Illawarra were down double digits in the first half and I was like ‘uh oh, this might get ugly’,” Rucker said on Moments That Mattered.

“Illawarra showed a new level of excellence.

“To do that in a crunch moment against a very good team is a good sign for Justin Tatum and another little feather in the cap. When you win games like that, tough games where you’ve got to dig deep, that means a lot.

“I thought they did a really good job and now they’re in the top six. It looked like they might slip out of it but they’ve come back big this round, full credit to them.”

If the Hawks were to win a game like their victory over the Breakers in recent seasons past, you could put your house on that it would be Tyler Harvey leading the charge for the side. This time, however, it was Gary Clark once again making the difference for the Hawks.

Harvey was still an exceptional contributor on the offensive end and finished as the second top scorer of the clash with 19 points, while Sam Froling added eight points and four assists in a game where he was beset by foul trouble.

Rucker says Harvey’s smooth transition into a new style of role has helped elevate the Hawks late in the season.

“He’s maturing and he’s allowing his teammates – in particular Gary Clark – to do more,” Rucker said of the former MVP nominee.

“Gary Clark is the guy on that team, he’s the number one option and you see that in his productivity and it was another big game.

“Sam Froling, he’s your main local guy and your best person.

“Now Tyler Harvey slots into that number three role, but he has the capability to take over moments of games, patches of games, and I think that’s what he’s learning and how he can be effective in driving the success of the Illawarra Hawks.”

Illawarra’s season continues with a home clash against the Bullets on Saturday at 5:30pm AEDT, live on ESPN via Kayo.