Tatum talks Hawks title tilt

Thursday, January 11, 2024

The Illawarra Hawks have surged back into finals contention, but Justin Tatum wants his side to be eying the ultimate glory in NBL24.

After over a season in the wilderness at the bottom of the NBL standings the Illawarra Hawks now find themselves in the competition’s post-season positions – but the job is far from done according to Justin Tatum.

The Hawks opened the NBL24 campaign with a 2-7 start and remained rooted in 10th place following last season’s dismal 3-25 record, but their resurgence under Tatum has seen the club climb the rankings with a 8-9 record.

They have also played fewer games than any team of NBL24 so far having appeared in just 17 contests so far.

Tatum says while finals basketball is the immediate goal, he doesn’t see why the Hawks shouldn’t aim higher.

“Me as a competitor, as a coach and former player, I always want to find a way to win the whole thing,” Tatum said via the Illawarra Mercury.

“It’s not out of the question. I always want to be in the top mix, I’ve always had a competitive drive and if I can find a way to get my team to believe in what I believe in … then you can start talking about it more.

“We’ve still got to work on that killer mentality. We’ve had good success so far, but at the end of the day we really want to be at the top and you’ve got to beat some of these teams we’ve got coming up.”

Illawarra faces a Round 15 double-header that opens with an away clash against Tasmania.

The JackJumpers have won seven of the eight total meetings between the two sides, and Illawarra’s only win against the NBL’s newest side came way back in Round 15, NBL22.

“I know they respect us in what we’ve been doing so far but, at the end of the day, it’s like a big brother/little brother thing,” Tatum said.

“Tasmania is a juggernaut, they’re a well-oiled machine.

“I love a love of things coach (Roth) has done for them … and we want to find that same type of mindset with our talent.

“This will be a great test for us knowing that they had the upper hand on us the last two games, but I think this would be a lot more challenging for them.”

Illawarra's clash with Tasmania will be shown live on ESPN via Kayo on Friday, Jaunary 12, at 7:30pm AEDT.