R15 Preview: Illawarra Hawks v Sydney Kings

When: 8.00pm (AEST), Saturday 24 April 

Where: WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong

Broadcast: ESPN; Sky Sports NZ; SBS On Demand; Twitch

The last time
Illawarra 89 (Froling 20, Harvey 17, Jessup 15) d Sydney 69 (Vasiljevic 12, Moller 9, Vodanovich 8, Bruce 8) – NBL Cup Week 4, John Cain Arena, Melbourne

It's quite remarkable to think that the NSW rivals haven’t done battle in #NBL21 for some six weeks now and when they last met, it was in Melbourne of all places. But that took place during the NBL Cup and it was a second win from two attempts for the Hawks against the Kings this season.

Just days after their worst performance of the season up to that point, the Hawks delivered their most emphatic to beat the Kings by 20. Coming off a horror showing against the Perth Wildcats where the final margin of 17 points didn’t come close to telling the story of how badly Brian Goorjian saw his team outplayed, the master coach got the Hawks to focus on what they did so well when starting the season 4-0.

They dominated their NSW rivals in the second half holding the Kings to just 25 points to end up leading by as much as 25 and winning by 20. While Justinian Jessup shot himself back into form early on his way to 13 first half points, it was Sam Froling who had the breakout night largely down low. He made his first nine field goals and missed his last on his way to 20 points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks while his shooters got back to some form too.

Tyler Harvey had 17 points, four rebounds and four assists, Jessup finished with 15 points and three assists, Deng Adel nine points, four boards and three assists, and Cam Bairstow eight points, six rebounds and three assists.

Only DJ Vasiljevic scored in double-figures with 12 points for Sydney with Casper Ware having an especially tough night on 2/10 shooting with four assists and four turnovers. His six points came with consecutive three-point bombs late in the first quarter.

The now

Not only do the NSW rivals get to resume their hostilities in Wollongong on Saturday night on ANZAC Day Eve, but it's a game with plenty on the line as the race for the playoffs heats up in the NBL.

The Kings might be seemingly losing manpower on a weekly basis with Didi Louzada now in the NBA and DJ Vasiljevic out for the season, but it hasn’t hurt their form and they come into Saturday's clash on a three-game winning streak in third position on the table at 13-12.

The Hawks might be on a two-game losing streak as they return to the WIN Entertainment Centre on Saturday night, but they are playing some good basketball too to be in fifth position in the standings at 12-13. So with a spot in the top four on the line, the stakes rise that little bit more for a game between two rivals that already always has plenty of feeling.

This will be the first appearance for the Hawks in Round 15 of the NBL as they come off a road trip last weekend against the top two teams in the Perth Wildcats on Friday night and Melbourne United on Sunday.  While they didn’t win either of those games, they showed some good signs on the road against the league-leaders as they now begin a run of having eight of their last 11 games of the season on their home court.

The Kings couldn’t have been more impressive or emphatic in their 101-81 win in Melbourne over South East Melbourne on Thursday that came on the back of home victories also against the Phoenix and the Cairns Taipans. That has seen Sydney improve to third position on the ladder and they can stay there with their first win over the Hawks this season on Saturday night.

The stats

- The stakes are big in this local rivalry contest. A win for the Hawks and both Illawarra and Sydney sit on 13-13 records this season with 10 games to play. But a win for the Kings and Sydney will be two wins ahead at 14-12 with Illawarra 12-14.

- The Kings are searching for their first four-game winning streak on the season on the back of shooting 53.7 per cent from the field in Thursday's 20-point win against the Phoenix along with shooting a season-high 29 free-throws and forcing their opponents into 18 turnovers.

- Brian Goorjian will be looking to continue his remarkable streak of winning these NSW rivalry contests. He won the last 10 straight when he was coach of the Kings and now has won the first two in charge of the Hawks. A win for Illawarra on Saturday night would be an 11th straight win for him and a first at home for the Hawks against the Kings.

The key men

Tyler Harvey – He remains a remarkable offensive talent and an unstoppable force when his game is up and going. As a deadly three-point shooter with an exciting all-round game where he can get into the arc and finish with floaters from anywhere, and get to the rack, he is tough to stop. He's good at running his team's offence too. Last time he played on his home floor he put up 35 points as well against the Cairns Taipans and is averaging 23.6 points a game in Wollongong this season while shooting 46.2 per cent from three-point territory. His 77 three-point makes this season is also the best in the NBL.

Casper Ware – Well if Tyler is the key for the Hawks, then it only makes sense for Casper to be for the Kings. He hasn’t always enjoyed playing in the 'Gong, though, whether it was in his time at Melbourne United or now with the Kings. He is averaging just the 13 points a game over seven times playing in the WIN Entertainment Centre while shooting only 22 per cent from downtown at 13/58. However, we all know what he's capable of and if he catches fire on Saturday night, the Kings will be mighty tough to stop from winning a fourth straight game.

The quotes

Hawks coach Brian Goorjian will be giving Deng Adel and Justinian Jessup every chance to prove their fitness at Shootaround on Saturday to ensure they are out there for Illawarra against the Sydney Kings on Saturday night.

With Cam Bairstow ruled out once again, Goorjian is hoping for as many healthy and available bodies as possible for what's shaping as a potentially season-defining contest.

"They are two important pieces for us. They've both been involved in practice this week and we'll put them through their paces tomorrow to see if they can get up for tomorrow night's match with an in-form Sydney team," Goorjian said.

"We do have some depth there with Grida back and with Justin, Justinian and even playing Tyler for a bit in that two spot and giving us some minutes, there is some direction to go. There are certain injuries you can cover and we'll do whatever we can to get those guys available, but right now we do have coverage there."

Coming off a challenging weekend against the league's top two teams on the road, Goorjian is looking forward to the challenge now at home against the third placed Kings on Saturday night in the start of a big run of home matches to close out #NBL21.

"The Kings come into our building confident and in pretty good shape after their big win over the Phoenix on Thursday night. They're all important games for us at this stage of the season but this one has some extra spice, it's Sydney, it's at home, it's the big brother against the little brother. Bring it on," Goorjian said.

"We're at this point of the season and this is a first year of this organisation completely. That's from management to staff and everything that you can talk about to do with basketball, it's a first. We're at this point of the season with a better understanding of ourselves and we're in it. Now this is all about us. 

"The only team we haven’t beaten in this thing is Perth and we don't play them again, everybody else through this process we've had a win against. We know we're competitive and capable of winning, and now here we are in our first year coming down the stretch with a lot of home games and we're in it. 

"If we win enough games, we're going to the playoffs and if we don't, then we don't deserve to be there with the teams we are playing on our home court. It's a nice feeling that this is behind us and our schedule has been the most brutal outside of New Zealand. Now the comfort comes and it's in our box. 

"I thought last weekend was important just as far as how we played it. It would have been fantastic to get a win, but the guys were together and were fighting, and still have a belief, and I do think we're getting better."

Kings coach Adam Forde was happy to get some minutes into all of his squad during Thursday's big win over the Phoenix as Jarell Martin continues to build his way back into full availability again.

"We play again in 48 hours so we were dependant on those guys and it's always about the next man up, and this is it. Hutch is our third string point guard and we start the other two so we can't afford to have Casper and Brucey play 40 minutes a game. So when those opportunities do rise, it's great that they seize the moment," Forde said.

"And with Jarell, we have to manage him and we're not in any rush. It helps when we take control of a game like we did and play how the guys did so when Jarell is out there it's just all about getting him the ball. 

"We want to get him the ball through all different sets and get him his touches with the idea that we want to build him back up again. But whether it was a 20-point win, 20-point loss, two-point difference, we're going to manage that and cap his minutes appropriately. It will be much the same until he's allowed to play the full game."

Kings centre Jordan Hunter comes into Saturday game in some impressive form as a centre in the league, and he's looking forward to the challenge of trying to beat the Hawks for the first time in #NBL21.

"They are a good team and well coached, and have had good success against us this year," Hunter said.

"But being well prepared and perfect in our effort will go a long way to getting us that W down there."