Tatum's bid to stop sluggish starts

Incredibly, Illawarra Hawks are within touching distance of the top six – but interim head coach Justin Tatum is still targeting sustained improvement, following their New Year’s Eve win over Adelaide.

The Hawks entered half-time with a one-point deficit against the 36ers – largely thanks to 20 first half points from Isaac Humphries – before they restricted Adelaide to just 12 points in the third term.

Adelaide then won the final quarter to trim the final margin to seven, after a three-pointer on the buzzer from Todd Blanchfield was ruled out.

“I wasn’t happy with the first quarter,” Tatum said post-game. “The guys understand we’re not starting like we want to dominate the whole game. With our energy and our sense of awareness, I had to get on the guys a bit about allowing teams to get into their groove and be able to compete and play with us, which makes it a longer game for us.

“We came off two bad first half games with Tasmania and Sydney and that was our main emphasis – ‘don’t start badly in this half’.

“We know our second half has been our crutch, but we don’t want to just play 20 minutes of basketball. We want to play 40.

“Adelaide gave us everything and they really have nothing to lose, because at the end of the day, they’re still trying to find a way to get into the mix. We knew we were going to get their all today, but we should have put our foot on the gas a lot more.”

Before Sunday’s clash, import guard Justin Robinson discussed how he had circled this game against Adelaide in his calendar following his poor performance against the 36ers last time the teams met.

After shooting 1-15 from the field in the first meeting, Robinson exploded this time around. He missed just two of his ten shots to finish the game with a team-high 19 points in a performance that is indicative of the wider turnaround of the Hawks.

Robinson’s performance allowed fellow import guard Tyler Harvey to take a backseat in the scoring stakes, and this victory is the first win the Hawks have registered this season where Harvey has scored fewer than 15 points.

“I feel like my teammates put me in the right spots. I was trying not to come into the game after that interview with too much pressure on myself, and just let things flow,” Robinson said.

“I think the mid-range was open, my shot felt good and I just let the game come to me.

“I think my teammates and the coaching staff put me in the right position to do that and I have trust from top to bottom from everyone, so it can’t be much better than that.”

“Tyler did some great, unselfish passes today and we’re really happy we’re seeing his game evolve in that area. He was trusting everybody, because we had so many weapons out there,” Tatum added.

“It’s not all about Tyler, and Tyler knows that. He’s a big asset when he gets going and clearly the stats say if he scores over 15 we win games, but we don’t always want to rely on that.”

Sam Froling played the game out with a bandage on his head after suffering a heavy cut early in the game.

He returned to the court and was effective in curbing the influence of Isaac Humphries – who had 20 points in the opening half – and Tatum says his star center will be fine to play Illawarra’s next game.

“He's (Froling) a lot more unattractive – I can tell you that,” Tatum said of the facial injury.

“He has about five stitches. He’ll be OK, he’ll keep them in until the next game or after, but no concussion and he has a ton of energy. He’s fine.”

Illawarra’s next game will come against South East Melbourne on Friday, January 5.