Preview: Sydney v Illawarra (Round 7)

When: 4pm (AEDT), Sunday 20 November, 2022
Where: Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
Broadcast: 10 Peach; 10 Play; ESPN; Foxtel; Kayo; Sky NZ
LIVE SCORES & STATS

Who won last time?

Sydney 106 (Walton 32, Cooks 24, Simon 19) d Illawarra 97 (Dent 19, Harvey 18, King 14, Swaka Lo Buluk 14) – Round 1 at WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong

There was a new big four in town to open NBL23 as Derrick Walton, Xavier Cooks, Justin Simon and DJ Vasiljevic combined for 91 points at 58 per cent to lead Sydney to their third-straight Freeway Series win. They didn’t have it all their own way, upstart Illawarra reserve Lachie Dent hitting a perfect 5/5 from deep, his final trey putting the hosts seven ahead with six minutes to play, but Walton had 13 points on the run home to break Hawks hearts.

What happened last game?

Walton wasn’t on song in Auckland back in Round 6, but it didn’t stop Sydney racing to a 22-point lead and making the second-placed Breakers look second rate. However, after half-time with Xavier Cooks sidelined they weren’t the same team, and they now face a testing period without X. The Hawks have been more than tested so far this season, but their past two games have shown some promise. Their last outing was 17 days ago against Adelaide, where they let a five-point game balloon to a 16-point loss in the final 6:30.

What’s working?

Clogging the key – The Kings allow a league-low 17.8 two-pointers at 45 per cent, using Tim Soares and Jordy Hunter to man the paint, with Cooks and Justin Simon swooping in to help, that quartet swatting 3.0 of Sydney’s 3.4bpg. In their losses they’ve conceded 13.5 triples per game, and while connecting from deep is important for Illawarra, challenging the Cooks-less Kings inside is key, given they’ve gifted 61 free throws to their past two opponents.

Playing off Peyton – In the past two games the Hawks have shot 43 per cent, averaged 19 free throws and committed 12 turnovers per 40 minutes. Prior to that those numbers were 39 per cent, 12.9 free throws and 14.6 turnovers. The ball has been living in Siva’s hands and he's dished 21 dimes in those two games, so how will the Hawks adjust with their new point man sidelined? Can Lachie Dent repeat his perfect 19-point game from Round 1?

What needs stopping?

Derrick Walton – The new Kings star torched the Hawks for 32 points and eight assists in the season opener, his penetration early in the offence leaving the hosts scrambling on numerous defensive possessions. Walton has only once produced less than five dimes this season, and it’s a big job for Wani Swaka Lo Buluk on one side of the ball-screen, and bigs like Sam Froling and Deng Deng on the other, to slow him down on Sunday.

Not Xavier Cooks – In 17:25 before Cooks departed in Auckland, Sydney ran up 42 points at 58 per cent, with 17 coming in the first 12 seconds of the possession. In the final 22:25 without him, they managed just 39 points at 29 per cent, with only seven points from early offence. Cooks ability to get deflections, block shots, rebound and run, find teammates and finish open-court plays is unique, and the Kings must find some easy points without him.

Who’s matching up?

Justin Simon v Tyler Harvey – Do you think T-Raw likes playing with Siva? He’s averaged 23ppg at 45 per cent from deep over the past two outings, after struggling for 10.6ppg at 26 per cent in the previous five. It’s hard to see the Hawks posting a winning score without him firing given Siva’s absence, so expect the ball to be in his hands a lot, and for Kings coach Chase Buford to give gun stopper and former teammate Justin Simon the job of stopping him.

Tim Soares v Sam Froling – Samson has benefitted from the new-found predictability in Illawarra’s offence, shooting at 67 per cent, grabbing 4.5 o-boards and dishing 2.5 assists the past two games. Soares and Hunter will defend deep, so Harvey needs to find Froling at the high post or the short roll, from where he must make great decisions about whether to score or facilitate – or just give it back to T-Raw – so his shooters can exploit the sagging D.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ANNNDD 1!! <a href="https://twitter.com/YoungTRaaw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YoungTRaaw</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HawkNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HawkNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/unsvOpFNEa">pic.twitter.com/unsvOpFNEa</a></p>&mdash; Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1588109960474660864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s saying what?

For folks outside New South Wales, Justin Simon is happy to confirm that the Illawarra-Sydney rivalry is much more than a marketing gimmick or a chance for owners to have a war of words.

“When I was playing with the Hawks against the Kings, I could feel that hatred,” Simon says in The Freeway Rivalry documentary.

“I remember thinking about a guy like Shaun Bruce, he’s one of those guys you don’t like when you're playing against them, but you love him when he’s on your team …

“Now every time I’m on the floor I want to kill those (Hawks) guys. Those are my brothers off the floor, I'm close with a lot of those guys, talk to them daily, but when we're in between those lines there are no friends, I want to go out and dominate.”

Another man who has played both sides of this razor-sharp fence is Angus Glover, who knows what it’s like to come in a Freeway Series game as the disrespected underdog.

“Obviously the Hawks haven’t got the results they have wanted lately but we know they're still a very talented team,” he said.

“We see time and time again in this league, anyone can beat anyone, the league is that tough.

“During my time in the league, having played for both clubs, no matter where each team is on the ladder, these games are always close.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ALL THE SPICE.<br><br>It&#39;s all happening in the Freeway Series.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> live on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> <a href="https://t.co/umk4thH3NC">pic.twitter.com/umk4thH3NC</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1469582174055649284?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

For Illawarra coach Jacob Jackomas, keeping it close is crucial, after his team started asleep in Round 6 against Adelaide before mounting a furious comeback.

While they closed within two in that game on the back of some impressive basketball at both ends, they didn’t have the horses to maintain such a charge.

“We were just really bad at the beginning of the game,” he said.

“We’re not there yet where we can climb it back, even though it was a valiant effort in the third, playing that sort of style, you’ve got to do something a little more to get over the hump when you get in such a big hole.”

The reality is the Hawks’ best game this season was Round 1 against Sydney, where they led by seven in the final term before falling short.

However, their aggressive approach exposed some holes in the Kings’ defence as they ran up 97 points, and made 15 triples on the back of some aggressive penetration.

Wani Swaka Lo Buluk had 14 points at 60 per cent that game, going 4/4 in the paint and +9 for the game in a nine-point loss.

“We’re going to live and die being aggressive,” coach Jacob Jackomas said at the time.

“I think we were a little too aggressive today and we got out of our funk. (Swak) was aggressive on the rim, he made shots, he played confident.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">AND1?<br><br>Wani Swaka Lo Buluk stepping up and giving the <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> the lead.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> Freebies ? <a href="https://t.co/t7iE63hhIl">pic.twitter.com/t7iE63hhIl</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1518115519240437760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Then the Hawks lost point guard Justin Robinson, and Wani averaged just 2.8 points at 29 per cent over the next six games to go from NBL22 championship starter to non-factor.

With Peyton Siva on board he averaged 11ppg at 47 per cent the past two outings, but Illawarra desperately need him to make his own plays on Sunday with Siva and George King missing.

Coach Jackomas desperately is urging the likes of Swaka Lo Buluk, Tim Coenraad, Deng Deng, Lachie Dent and Mangok Mathiang to play with confidence and not get caught up in the mental pressure that’s dragged the Hawks’ season down.

“We’re in a hole, we’ve been in a hole for a while, we’re trying to get ourselves out of it but as the games go on,” Jackomas said.

“We've been itching for this break, we’ve got to come out of it better or it’s going to be the same, this league’s too good just to think it’s going to happen for you...

“We are scrambling from behind right now on the ladder, but in our minds the thing we need to do right now is take it step by step.”

They won’t get any sympathy from Simon though, who went 2-2 in Freeway Series clashes in his time as a Hawk, and is keen to keep his ledger positive after the Kings’ Round 1 win.

“It's always special to play against a former team, not to mention the rivalry that's involved with it all,” he said.

“We all know the energy, intensity and emotions are going to be high and those guys desperate for a win, after having the season they're having.

“Although they're down the bottom of the ladder and we're at the top, we know anything than our best won't be enough. They're going to be hungry and throw the first punch come Sunday.”