But for once, in the face of a 100-91 defeat last night, coach Kirsten Daly-Taylor and her hapless troops defied gargantuan odds to keep the rampant James Blond Supercity Rangers on their toes.
It wasn't for a lack of trying before but something was amiss and that was magnified with the premature departure of US import Chris Porter.
The smattering of PG Arena faithful who waited until the final hooter gave the Alonzo Burton-captained Hawks a rousing ovation last night.
"I think we wanted to play with heart and leave it all out there on the court for the crowd who have been loyal to us throughout the season even though we haven't won a game all season," said Burton. He said their goal was to keep the Rangers from reaching three figures.
Despite that the guard said their young ones "did awesome".
"I look at all the boys as brothers so when you play like this it's easy," a beaming Burton said of his debut as captain.
"As a group, though, we all hold each other accountable," he said, emphasising they still yearned for a win.
The game started with a hiss and roar in the first quarter for the Hawks who rattled the star-studded Rangers but gradually lost their substantial lead to finish 26-27 down.
It was a gallant effort, fuelled with passion and urgency that were somewhat lacking in most of the previous games.
Rangers coach Jeff Green talked about injecting his bench players more if they had beaten the SIT Zerofees Southland Sharks on Thursday night - they did 103-100 in Invercargill - but there was little sign of that until the third quarter although in the dying minutes the youngsters finished off the job.
If anything, that was an endorsement of treating the wounded hosts with respect in their final throw of the dice at home.
Conversely Daly-Taylor had no qualms about blending in her bench boys on the proviso of nothing to lose although one could argue injuries to captain Aidan Daly and small forward Darryl Jones, both reduced to spectators on the bench last night, didn't leave her much room to manoeuvre.
Either way, some of the young and the restless - Dominic McGovan and Jaxson Macfarlane - picked up precious minutes before the Hawks hit the road for their remaining six matches of the season.
"They knew from the start that Aidan wasn't going to play so Dom came in and did well and even Jaxson," Burton said.
In the 12th minute, Mika Vukona picked up a technical foul on the bench for carrying on mouthing off at referee Melony Wealleans after Rangers coach Jeff Green subbed him off the court.
Wealleans, a basketball NZ referees' co-ordinator, also had warned Green for encroaching on to the court when play was still in progress.
Towards the end of the third quarter Arthur Trousdell also picked up a technical foul for hollering at Bay umpire Apai Apai.
The officials, it seemed, were out to make a point that they may make mistakes but players and coaches need not forget they are still in control.
Burton, leading by example, scored 19 points and took four rebounds while Luke Aston racked up 20 points and collected just as many off the glass.
Veteran Paora Winitana chimed in with 16 points and four rebounds while US import Kareem Johnson scored 12 points and picked up seven off the boards.
For the visitors, point guard Lindsay Tait scored a game-high 26 points with Corey Webster not far behind on 24 and Reuben Te Rangi adding 16. US import Terrence Roberts claimed a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Rangers won the second quarter 23-17 (50-43 at halftime), put it on overdrive 28-19 (78-62) in the third before injecting all their young to close out the game despite losing the final spell, 29-22.
