R21 Preview: Illawarra Hawks vs Sydney Kings

Thursday, June 3, 2021

It's all on the line for Casper Ware and the Sydney Kings, but Tyler Harvey and the Hawks also have plenty to play for as they look to lock in third spot.

When: 7.30pm (AEST), Thursday 3 June

Where: WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong

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

The last time
Sydney 79 (Ware 18, Hunter 16, Moller 11) d Illawarra 75 (Froling 22, Harvey 18, Simon 16) OT - Round 15, WIN Entertainment Centre

What a game! This Round 15 clash might not have been high scoring, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more intense contest. In what could easily have been a finals game, the Kings leapt 14 ahead in the third term with Casper Ware proving unguardable, but led by Emmett Naar, Illawarra’s bench turned the tide. The Hawks’ comeback was complete with 34 seconds to play when Justin Simon tied the scores, but Sydney held their hosts to just one field goal in the extra period and Craig Moller sealed the deal with a massive triple.

The now
Now this game could have been the mother of all NSW derbies to decide a playoff berth, but the Hawks jumped that gun by downing the Cotton-less Cats on Tuesday, securing their first finals spot since 2017. Regardless, this is big for Brian Goorjian’s gang, as a loss to finish the season could drop them to fourth place and a likely date with Melbourne United in the semi-finals, rather than a repeat against a tough but depleted Perth without their MVP.

If it’s big for Illawarra, it’s massive for Sydney, who must win their two remaining games. They were incredible against Melbourne, taking hit after hit and refusing to quit. Jarell Martin was a handful inside until Jo Lual-Acuil seized the flopportunity to get him out of the game, while Shaun Bruce and Moller made a string of big plays. Thanks to that Sydney absorbed United’s denial of Ware, and he’ll cop more of the same from Justin Simon and Co.

The stats

- Sydney have averaged just 76.7ppg – shooting 39 per cent from the field – against the Hawks, despite playing an overtime period last time they met

- The Kings have managed only seven fast break points in the entire season series and shot a lowly 43 per cent from two-point range

- Illawarra have won six of their past seven games with a points tally of 160 or less. Their only loss coming to Sydney in Round 15

- The Hawks lead points from turnovers 54-25 in this season series. Sydney have forced their NSW rival into just 9.7 cough-ups per game

The key men

Jarell Martin – In two games where he played extended minutes against Illawarra, Martin racked up 26 points in 45 minutes, shooting 47 per cent from the field and 2/3 from deep. Illawarra’s defence has been superb, and AJ Ogilvy’s part in that underrated, but do he or Sam Froling have the skates to stay with Martin? If not, which other Hawk can, or will we see more zone? Perhaps the best solution is choking the Kings’ guards and denying supply.

Sam Froling – Martin and Co have their own defensive headache and his name is Sam Froling. The quiet achieving 21-year-old has dominated in his past two meetings with Sydney’s frontcourt, compiling 42 points on 19/31 shooting, 18 boards and four blocks. In Illawarra’s five-game winning streak he’s been immense, averaging 16.8 points at 65 per cent, 6.0 boards, 2.0 assists and 1.2 swats, a repeat of which will go a long way to making it six.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">PUT THAT MAN ON A POSTER! <a href="https://twitter.com/samfroling_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@samfroling_</a> oh my lord!!!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/OSqv7Rpmgc">pic.twitter.com/OSqv7Rpmgc</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball - x (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1399680663368781824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The quotes

The story of the moment in the NBL is the Illawarra Hawks. After some mid-season injury and upheaval seemed to have derailed their charge, they’ve unleashed a winning run at just the right time, claiming eight of their past nine to lock in a post-season excursion.

Rewind six weeks, having fallen to big brother Sydney in overtime at the Sandpit – their third straight loss and sixth from eight games – and things didn’t look so rosy.

“Everybody’s pretty disappointed, everybody dug pretty deep and came up short. The feeling’s disappointing,” coach Goorjian said after the Round 15 loss.

“We talked about not looking at the score, obviously we’re going through some change and issues and this was a very important game for us.”

Yet as the team was struggling to find its identity after the season-ending injury to Cam Bairstow and the departure of Deng Adel, this game was something of a basketball epiphany for Goorj, who had been reluctant to trust his bench to that point.

However, with this game rapidly getting out of hand, down double-digits and Tyler Harvey trying to get it all back by himself, the mastercoach knew he had to make a change and he turned to Emmett Naar and Co.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Emmett Naar is the first NBL player in 18 years to have 12 assists in a game with 0 turnovers.<br><br>Last player to have at least 12 dimes and 0 t/o's was Damon Lowery for the Hawks vs Cannons 26/2/03.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/0oTouH7CBy">pic.twitter.com/0oTouH7CBy</a></p>— NBLfacts (@nblfacts) <a href="https://twitter.com/nblfacts/status/1385951784649203713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“We have a lot of guys who haven't been playing a lot but have been training hard since the start of the year and they got an opportunity tonight, and I thought they brought us back and got us back into the game,” he said post-game.

“We were in a big hole at the start of the third quarter, made some changes to what we ran, made some changes in personnel, and the guys that came in, Max Darling, Isaac White, Emmett Naar and Deng Deng turned it around and got us back in the game.

“Tyler’s a scorer, and the offence at periods of time, it happened in Melbourne, happened a little bit in Perth, we quick shot the ball and didn’t get through process so when we fell down 15 or 16, I moved Tyler to the two spot, brought Emmett into the one and slowed the game down, and played pick-and-roll.

“Emmett came up with 12 assists, no turnovers, we got good shots, got our defence set and turned it into a grind out game and got back in it.”

They lost in overtime, but the performance of his young tyros left a mark on Goorjian that would change Illawarra’s season, trusting more players, allowing their defence to play at a higher intensity for longer, which has been the key to their charge to the playoffs.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Skip <a href="https://twitter.com/AJ_Ogilvy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AJ_Ogilvy</a> putting on a bl?c party<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/Dmc4LdcVjJ">pic.twitter.com/Dmc4LdcVjJ</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball - x (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1398877918713901066?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“I don’t think they made any mistakes down the stretch that were controllable, like we should have run this or we should have taken this shot or that. It’s just Tyler’s last shot didn’t go in, a couple of floaters didn’t go in, offensive rebound kick-outs didn’t go in,” Goorjian said.

“I'm taking a deep breath already and thinking about the next one. We’re still in this thing and there are a lot of things to grasp tonight for the way forward.”

Operation successful, but they now face a Sydney side as desperate as they are, who perhaps had their own season-defining moments in the double-overtime win against Melbourne.

With plenty going against them, the Kings simply willed themselves to victory, and did it with defence and hustle plays.

“In the second overtime, I thought that if you weren’t a fan of basketball, you’ll be a fan now,” coach Adam Forde said.

“Just the way we went about it at the defensive end. I’s not like we particularly shot the ball well, but the second chance points and defensive stops was what won us the game, clamping down at the defensive end.

“It’s guys just digging deep, playing for each other, and really wanting this one.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Martin with authority. ??<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> <a href="https://t.co/t9ZAP0JwYi">pic.twitter.com/t9ZAP0JwYi</a></p>— Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1398590207839014913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

No one wanted it more than Moller, who had 7 offensive rebounds and 3 steals as Sydney remarkably dominated United by +17 in the possession game.

“There was that stretch when we had good looks that just weren’t dropping, then Craig comes in, scoops up a couple of those misses and either puts it back or moves it to Jarell for the finish,” Coach Forde said.

“You can create your own opportunities, and that’s exactly what Craig did.”

Now the Kings have the opportunity they want, beating their stateside rival and moving within one win of the playoffs.

Can Casper Ware lock down Tyler Harvey? Can Justin Simon lock down Ware? Can Shaun Bruce run the show as brilliantly as last Saturday if Ware is denied again?

Can Jordy Hunter and Xavier Cooks protect the rim against Froling and Ogilvy? Can Moller continue to make plays and hit threes? And can Jarell Martin bring his A-game to run up a winning score against the tough Hawks defence?

The answers to those questions will determine whether the Kings season lives to see the weekend.