R12 Preview: Illawarra Hawks vs Tasmania JackJumpers

When: 5.30pm (AEDT), Sunday 20 February, 2022

Where: WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sports NZ

Who won last time?
Hobart 74 (Roberts 20, Brenton 15, Stiff 15) d Illawarra 72 (Timmons 24, Campbell 15, Lafleur 13) – Round 12, 1996, MyState Bank Arena, Hobart

This is the first meeting between the Hawks and JackJumpers, but the last time Illawarra played a Tasmanian team the Devils prevailed in a low-scoring affair, athletic import Jonathan Roberts the difference with 20 points, 9 boards and 4 assists and a pair of swats. For the visitors, import sensation Marcus Timmons had 24 points and 11 rebounds.


What happened last start?

In a similarly dour affair the Hawks downed Cairns on Friday night, Duop Reath and Antonius Cleveland the difference as they combined for 31 points at 56 per cent, the only players to score above 11 points. Illawarra’s underperforming defence went into overdrive in the second half, not allowing the Taipans to reach double figures as a team in either quarter.

Tasmania’s usually starchy D had few answers for SE Melbourne. Even though the Phoenix couldn’t hit from range, they looked after the ball, dominated the paint, marched to the foul line and won the possession game as Tassie felt Will Magnay’s absence. After six straight outings keeping teams under 80 points, they’ve burped up 85 and 83 the past two games.


Who’s in form?

Matt Kenyon – Against SE Melbourne, the JJs were +1 in Kenyon’s 20 minutes and -13 in the other 20. Over the season he is +37 on and -43 off, 23 points ahead of his next teammate, Josh Magette, thanks to his defence, decision making and 44 per cent three-point shooting over the past four games. Which star Hawks guard will he lock horns with this week?

Duop Reath – The Boomer has bounced back with 34 points in 51 minutes the past two games, 58 per cent from the field, 3/7 from deep, 16 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks and not surprisingly two Hawks wins. When Reath scores above 15 points the Hawks are 5-0, and in those games he’s shot 41 per cent from the arc and pulled in 3.4 o-boards per night.

Who needs to be?

Tasmania’s frontcourt – Reath is just one headache for the Magnay-less JackJumpers, who were -24 on scoring from ‘ones and two’s against the Phoenix. Who will start at centre? Can Jack McVeigh defend either Reath or Sam Froling? Can Tassie keep that pair off the boards? Who can go with Cleveland when he slides to the four? Some role players need to step up.

Tyler Harvey – Illawarra doesn’t have their own ‘Kenyon’ without last year’s defensive stars Dan Grida and Justin Simon, so Harvey’s job on Josh Magette will be important, as the Ants usually win when their PG fires.  Harvey has scored just 19 points in 60 minutes the past two games, shooting 1/7 from outside with 6 assists to 5 turnovers, so he’s due for an outburst.


Who’s statting up?

 - When Magette shoots 33 per cent or better from distance the JackJumpers are 4-1, when he doesn’t they are 2-6. When he scores 16 points or more they are 4-2. When he has 7 assists or more they are 4-2

 - In Tasmania’s two games without Magnay they have given up 59 per cent shooting from two-point range. Against the same opposition with Will in the line-up, they concede 49 per cent

 - Illawarra’s second half defence allowed the Taipans just 17 points at 23 per cent shooting, while grabbing 81 per cent of available defensive rebounds. In the first half they pulled in only 55 per cent of d-boards

 - The Hawks rank last in bench minutes and seventh in bench scoring. Tasmania rank first in both those categories


Who’s matching up?

Antonius Cleveland v Josh Adams – It’s no secret JA has become a JackJumpers’ barometer, averaging 19ppg on 7 free-throw attempts in wins, and 23ppg in hard-fought losses to the two Melbourne teams. In all other defeats he’s averaged 10.4ppg on 2.2 foul shots. His ability to both accelerate to the rack and pull up on a dime make him a tough cover.

If any Hawk can contest Adams’ improving outside game – 6/14 the past two – shadow him to the hole and recover to get a hand on his pull-up, it’s the athletic Cleveland. He’s also able to exploit Adams’ lack of size at the other end, having dropped 15.5ppg at 53 per cent inside the past six games, and his quick rim attacks will test Adams’ focus in d-trans.

Who’s talking the talk?

Tim Coenraad has been in a Hawks uniform a long time, debuting in their grand final team of 2010, but one thing he hasn’t done is play the JackJumpers, and he’s looking forward to it.

“We’re about to come up against a team that probably play as hard as anyone else in the league. Watching them and waiting to play them, it’s been one I've been looking at because in terms of how they play, they play hard and they're going to be a real test for us,” he said.

“That’s a hungry team and that’s a team with a lot of enthusiasm and they’ve got a point to prove, and we have to match their energy or they're going to run on top of us.”

For much of this season, the Hawks haven't played like a hungry team, saving their energy for the offensive end.

That’s been a result of Brian Goorjian, having returned from China where team depth is at a far lower level, taking time to readjust to the style needed to succeed in the NBL.

While Goorj has talked often about trusting his bench more, he’s failed to do so, trying to ride his stars’ offence rather than trusting team defence like powerhouses Melbourne and Perth have for so long, ironically building on a tradition Goorjian himself started in the 90s.

However, Friday’s second-half demolition of the Snakes may finally have flicked the switch.

“I thought the second half was what we needed, just the defensive side of the ball. I thought they were as physical and as aggressive as we've played against and we matched them,” he said.

“It’s so much easier for me to substitute when you’re playing with that energy, and guys are asking to come out.

“Where we've been really stagnant defensively and slow and falling down early and having to lock into your best group of five to get back into a contest.

“Tonight, after the first quarter, I was subbing on fatigue.”

Antonius Cleveland played just 24 minutes, but returned 15 points, 7 boards, 3 blocks and all sorts of energy going both ways.

“AC’s a real catalyst for us in that regard, his ability to make plays out of nothing on the defensive end is as good as I've ever seen,” Coenraad said.

“He provides athleticism and then he’s able to get the ball and start pushing downhill and he just runs past people. It’s a level of athleticism when you see it, you understand that getting him going downhill on the fast-break is very good for us.

“He’s blocking shots, he can play above the rim, he can guard 1-4, 1-5 sometimes, for him to get us going is a real catalyst for us.

“Then on the other side of that for the other guys, just playing solid and sticking into the scout and communicating is a big one for us tonight, I think we did that a lot better than in the past.”

No team sticks to their scout and helps out as one unit better than the JackJumpers, who are statistically the best half-court defensive team in the competition.

They have plenty of solid role players, and their catalyst is Magnay, whose shot-blocking and above the rim rebounding inspires his team.

However, while Goorj has struggled to trust his role players, no one trusts them more than Tassie coach Scott Roth, who took offence at the easily-supported observation that their interior defence wasn’t the same without big Will in the middle.

“Don’t disrespect my other guys. My other guys fought very hard, Jock Perry’s first time out on the floor, Fab and JB and our bigs,” he said curtly.

“This team is not Will Magnay, this team is 15 JackJumpers working, doing the same thing over and over to get better at it ... Mags is obviously a big part of everything we do, but it’s a little bit disrespectful to think that my other guys didn’t play as hard as they possibly could to get the job done.”

They did play hard, they just didn’t get the job done, and Roth said they’ll tackle the tough Sam Froling-Duop Reath combo “by committee” with Perry, Bairstow, Krslovic and MiKyle McIntosh.

Of course, it will be a full team defence as it has every week of their short existence, starting with Matt Kenyon and Sam McDaniel dogging Tyler Harvey and Xavier Rathan-Mayes, and Roth is sure the loss to the Phoenix won’t dampen that intensity.

“One of the things I have preached to this group from day one is your defence will travel with you and give you the opportunity to win games when things aren't going so well,” he said.

“I told the guys to keep their heads up, it’s a hell of a run we've had for the last three or four weeks, really proud of the group and we just turn the page and move on.”