Tatum to unleash new-look Hawks rotation

Justin Tatum has indicated Sunday’s clash between Illawarra and Brisbane will be the first time he will implement his shortened rotation since coming in as interim coach of the Hawks.

Former head coach Jacob Jackomas consistently came under fire for what was perceived as excessive player rotations during the opening weeks of the season, but since taking over, Tatum has been bullish on the prospect of drilling down into a key group of players.

In the Hawks’ Round 8 win over Illawarra Tatum had 12 players hit the floor, nine of whom played at least ten minutes.

“That’s the advantage of having 13 really good guys and 13 professionals who understand their number may not be called this weekend, but next week it might be,” Tatum said.

“We had a meeting today about how we have to really start working on that rotation today so we can get prepared for Sunday, because we don’t want to go in this weekend still having not an idea of who we want to play.

“That was our message to them this week, create time for that next man because we know we need and eight, nine, ten-man rotation but you guys should be able to create time for the guys on the bench.

“That’s the type of basketball we want to implement here ... I think the guys have really been falling into line with that and we’re getting better every day.”

Tatum was only added to Illawarra’s staff ahead of the NBL24 season and says he's still leaning the expertise of his assistant coaches and the playing group to assist with the opposition scout.

He says he’s prepared to focus more on what his Hawks can do to hurt the Bullets.

“We don’t want to overflow ourselves with things Brisbane can do, we just want to know the major things, so we can stop them and worry about us,” Tatum said.

“They’re experienced and they’re really big and have really solid guards ... we have to find a way to contain them, but I think the way we competed against New Zealand and the way we’ve tightened it up with crisp practices, we can really have real competition.

“That was our major key piece, fixing up how to compete every play and working on getting consecutive defensive stops. That’s one of our main focuses this week.

“I have 13 guys on my team, most of who have been around this league a bit who can give me a bit of insight with my coaching staff and management. Also going off of feel as a former player and a coach myself, to adjust the way the game is going along.”

The Hawks will play Brisbane on Sunday, December 3 at 4pm AEDT, live on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, 10 Peach and 10 Play.