Hawks face "stress" test

The Illawarra Hawks of NBL25 are the highest scoring team in the 40-minute era and that alone makes them incredibly hard to stop on their quest for a Championship.

Averaging 101.9 points a game, the Hawks have weapons everywhere, and they take it to a whole new level in the comforts of WIN Entertainment Centre, as that average climbs to 105.7.

But according to former MVP Derek Rucker, there’s one team with the cavalry to stop them in their tracks, and they’ve already done it once this year. 

“Melbourne United, what they do is they drag you down,” Rucker said on NBL Now. 

“Melbourne United don’t blow teams out and Melbourne United do not get blown out.”

Rucker pointed to the Hawks’ massive 126-point haul, including 70 in a half against the Phoenix in the final game of the Playoffs.

“I think Illawarra could develop some internal stress, because how they function in Game 3 at home is how they want to win basketball games,” he said. 

“If you keep it tight, we’ve seen at times Illawarra don’t necessarily handle the pressure well.”

United kept the Hawks to just 87 points when the teams played off in Wollongong in October, including just 37 in the opening two quarters. It was their second-lowest score at home all season in a fiery clash.

Trey Kell III had just four points on one-of-six shooting, with Tyler Harvey (12 points) and Darius Days (five) also finding the going tough. 

Illawarra’s big names bounced back in the return leg in January, with a 117-95 win, as their big guns Kell III (23 points) and Harvey (20) found their range. 

But Rucker says Melbourne will still take plenty of confidence from that first-up victory.  

“I can tell you there’ll be strong pressure on them (the Hawks). Melbourne United played them really tough two times in the regular season,” he added.

NBL champion Damon Lowery says Illawarra is up to the challenge. 

“Cast your mind back to after Melbourne went to Illawarra and won on the Chris Goulding ‘flopgate’; the next time these two teams met, it was, not a beatdown, but a convincing Illawarra Hawks win,” he reflected. 

“Here’s the problem Melbourne United are going to have ... their defensive strength, which hasn’t been great mind you ... they just gave up 37 points in a quarter to Perth.

“Their defensive strength is their back-court, Shea Ili and Matthew Dellavedova. But for the Illawarra Hawks, that doesn’t worry Tyler Harvey and Trey Kell, because they’re six-foot-four ... they’re not worried about that.”

Who will stand tall and claim the ultimate prize? All will be revealed when the Hungry Jack’s NBL Championship Series gets underway on Saturday night, with live coverage on ESPN from 7.30pm AEDT.