"I don't see any positives": Tatum's frank assessment

Seventy-two hours in a long time in sport. Just ask the Illawarra Hawks.

On Thursday, they were riding high after defeating third placed South East Melbourne. Fast forward to Saturday and the Hawks hosted an undermanned Taipans team, who had lost 11 of their past 12 games.

That meant little, as Adam Forde's side, playing without Jack McVeigh, Sam Waardenburg and Reyne Smith, defeated the reigning champs 93-76 on their home court, the WIN Entertainment Centre.

In his post-game press conference, in which he labelled it close to their worst performance of the season, coach Justin Tatum expressed his disappointment.

"We're fighting every game to scrap, so who they have or who they don't have shouldn't matter to us at all, which is what I was preaching to my team," Tatum said in the post-game press conference.

"The guys have to find a way to do better execute and come out with more energy. These guys are professional basketball players, so they know the effort levels they needed to bring to compete.

"It's not just matching the energy and effort levels. Cairns had nothing to lose besides the game, so they just came out here and played free and played hard. We just didn't match that.

"Multiple offensive rebounds or breakdowns on the defensive end allowed them to get easy looks. Word is out that Illawarra does not box out, so most teams are very aggressive on that end."

"A lot of things that were mixed into that loss. It's unfortunate that we didn't play to the level that we were anticipating.

"Honestly I don't see any positives, besides the fact that the guys from both teams are healthy."

This result leaves the Hawks sitting in eighth with a 5-10 record, with their championship defence hanging in the balance.

One man who knows firsthand about trying to defend the title at the Hawks is 2000-01 co-captain, Glen Saville.

"From my own personal experience, it’s a very difficult thing to live up to the expectations of the team before when the team that comes back is not the same," Saville told CODE Sports.

"I’ve been in that situation before. There is a target on your back. You’re the champs from the year before so every time you go to play, there’s something on the line for the opposition to be able to say we just beat last year’s champs.

"They’re not dead and buried though, it wouldn’t take much to go on a run of a few wins and find themselves right back in the top six and that’s what they’ll be focusing on as a group."

Illawarra's next chance to return to the winner's circle comes on Thursday night when they host Brisbane at the WIN Entertainment Centre, from 7.30pm AEDT live on ESPN.

Read the full story here >> Illawarra legend Glen Saville reveals ‘pressure and stress’ championship Hawks are facing as Illawarra’s NBL title defence teeters on brink