Hot-Hand Dent Ready For More

When Lachie Dent hit the court against the Kings on Saturday night, most casual fans of the league would have thought little of it. A development player checking in for the last few minutes of a quarter, that's pretty common.

He quickly hit his first shot – a turnaround three off of the dribble. Then he picked up an assist – a laser pass to Tim Coenraad from the base line for a three. Then he drove and dished to Sam Froling on the three-point line.

He hit another three, then nabbed a steal. He was hot, and the Kings sent their best defender – former Hawk Justin Simon – to try and slow him down.

Dent then hit a contested lay-up for two more points. He nabbed another quick release three, and he finished off with a simple backdoor cut for an open layup.

His final stats for the game? 19 points, two assists, three rebounds, one steal and one turnover. The kicker? He didn’t miss a single shot.

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For the Illawarra die-hards – and there’s plenty of them – they saw more than a development player just being given a crack. They saw a young guard receiving a deserved reward after battling for every minute he’s ever earned at NBL level.

Dent has been a rostered player with Illawarra since the 2020-21 season. He signed as a development player then and is still one today. In his debut campaign he averaged roughly four minutes a game in a handful of appearances. Last season he only suited up six time, and only averaged two minutes a game. He didn’t score a single NBL point all season.

In the off-season he, like many others, elected to play in NBL1. He went to Queensland to represent the Brisbane Capitals in NBL1 North, impressed in what was the most competitive conference on the competition, and returned to Illawarra ready to fire.

“Last year we had a ton of talented guards. Guys like Emmett (Naar) and others who were ahead of me weren’t even playing. We had Justinian (Jessup), Tyler (Harvey), Xavier (Rathan-Mayes), we had Antonius (Cleveland). We had a ton of guys who could play and that’s just what it was,” Dent told NBL Media.

“Getting out and playing NBL1 in the off-season was really cool, because it made me get a bit of a better feel for the game and figure out who I am and how I want to do it. It’s helped me just play every day with a bit more confidence.

“Anybody who knows me will tell you I’m an overthinker, so I’ve been trying to limit that and push my thinking into other areas that are more positive for me moving forward. There were times [with Brisbane] where, yeah, it was a nice to feel like I could do it, and I could do it at a high level.

“It was more about having conversations with the people around me and being able to grow my own game. That’s the biggest thing I took away from it.”

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The frustrations of having to fight for each and every minute earned can make or break a player, and the battle for court time with far more experienced and established names over the years seems to have given Dent an interesting perspective of the game.

Suddenly now there are far more eyes on him. In tonight’s clash with the Phoenix, on-lookers will be waiting to see when Hawks coach Jacob Jackomas looks to his sharpshooter to come in and potentially change the game once again.

If Dent can prove last week’s hot shooting wasn’t just a flash in the pan performance, it has the potential to alter the trajectory of his career. That being said, the 22-year-old is well aware there’s still a lot to play out in NBL23.

“It was nice, really I just made shots and took good ones … it’s still a long year to go and I know there’s going to be ups and downs, and it’s all about getting wins as a team really,” he reflected.

“I went to the same high school as Xavier Cooks, Justin played with us for a year and I grew pretty close to him, Tom Glover was sitting at the end of their bench, and I was even around when Kevin Lisch was playing with the Hawks.

“As big as the rivalry is it was nice to have a game like that against a few friendly faces – but to be honest I’m not too fussed who we’re against to be honest. I just want to play well and help us win games.

“I’m sure if I keep making shots then I can keep the ball in the coaches’ court, put my best foot forward and say ‘I want to do it’. My role is just all about doing what I can do – and I’m all about defending, making the right reads, cutting out threats and hitting open shots.”

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Dent’s breakout game is just one of a number of huge storylines to come out of the first week of NBL action, and the biggest of those didn’t even happen in Australia. I’m talking of course about Adelaide’s historic win over the Phoenix Suns.

Having been a teammate of 36ers star Antonius Cleveland last year, Dent saw the game with different eyes than most. Not only was he, like so many others, willing on a win for Australian basketball – he also wanted his close mate to experience success.

While Adelaide’s win was, on the surface, a huge win for the reputation of Australian basketball worldwide, the Illawarra-born Dent sees it as a brilliant indication of the quality of player development currently happening on our shores.

“That was the first time I’ve ever barracked for the 36ers,” Dent said. “They were making shots and I was just jumping around. I have a good relationship with ‘AC’ (Cleveland), and he’s become a very good friend of mine, so we were texting after the game.

“From an NBL standpoint it shows we’re definitely moving forward and the league is getting better and better.

“That’s making it harder for guys like me to get their shot, but once we do it means we’re already at a high level and can come in and contribute.

“We’re really pushing against a lot of other young players around the world and that’s where we want to be.

“There’s a lot of confidence there, it’s a very high-quality league and we’re only going to get better.”