Jackomas: 'Individual Growth Drives Team Success'

Photo: George King (Credit - Illawarra Hawks Media)

“It’s an individual program in a team environment.”

That’s the message from Jacob Jackomas, who says he’s working to get the best out of each and every member of his roster. 

For the first-year Illawarra Hawks coach, it’s all about helping players reach their personal goals and creating an environment where team success becomes the product of that work. 

“I know that sounds a little bit like ‘Jacob this is crazy, this is a team sport’, but we have to have our own inner motivation,” Jackomas told Liam Santamaria on The Huddle Podcast. 

“Everyone here has their own individual reason to be here.

“As a basketball coach I’m trying to put that thing together to make sure everyone gets what they want individually, whilst getting the best team results.” 

Justin Robinson, George King and Mangok Mathiang are new to Illawarra, but they’ve wasted no time buying in to the club. 

All three boast NBA experience and Jackomas said finding out what drives them as individuals is ultimately what’s going to drive the team forward. 

“With Justin, if it’s the NBA (returning to play) … with ‘Mango’ (Mathiang) ... to establish himself,” Jackomas continued. 

“What he (Mathiang) really was before he gets hurt … marquee like resume. 

“If you were to say, George (King) wants to establish himself like Tyler (Harvey), like Bryce Cotton - a home … he’s been around the block with everything, so that involves winning.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Get to know <a href="https://twitter.com/2bkings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@2bkings</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/5Alive_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@5Alive_</a> in third instalment of GET TO KNOW THE BOYS ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hawknation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#hawknation</a> <a href="https://t.co/6QGfpappx9">pic.twitter.com/6QGfpappx9</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1567431175635111937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Fellow new faces, recruited from other clubs, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk and Deng Deng, just as motivated to step it up. 

“Wani’s had great success as we know. He’s been around one of the best clubs in the competition. Then he won a championship last year with Sydney. Now he wants to build something on his own,” Jackomas said. 

“And Deng Deng’s obviously coming back to bring himself into a situation where he’s comfortable … because he did bounce around a lot … start to become something where he’s a sort-after figure in the free agency.”

That individual motivation, Jackomas said, will drive results. They may not come immediately, but they will come. 

“Sam’s (Froling) trying to be a Boomer, an Olympic Boomer, a World Cup Boomer,” he added. 

“(Dan) Grida ... he should be a starter in the league right now.

“We’ve got a bunch of guys right now that are young, want to get better, happy to grow with me in the role, as a first-year head coach.

“I like the fact with all of them that they’re all driven and a lot of it’s linked to ‘if we win and if we play a good brand of basketball, we get what we want afterwards’. 

“As we go through this process and make mistakes, and we make them together, we get better too.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Illawarra Hawks Hoops back at the Snakepit!<br><br>For the first time since 2019, the Hawks made their way back to the Snakepit to take on NCAA college team, UC Riverside.<br><br>Re-live the best moments from the evening in what was a memorable night of Illawarra hoops!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hawknation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#hawknation</a> <a href="https://t.co/B5MkIGwynD">pic.twitter.com/B5MkIGwynD</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1566694115093651457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 5, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>