Hawks 89, Pirates 74
As strange as it may sound, pressure builds up at different levels in sport - even if a team is setting a cracking pace.
A country mile ahead, the HBS Bank Hawks come to mind with their dream start to the Bartercard National Basketball League (NBL) campaign.
While they are comfortably perched on the top rung of the NBL ladder, the million-dollar question on the minds of scores of Hawks' fans last night would have, no doubt, been: "Will it be seven and oh or will the boom bubble burst?"
With championship-winning New Zealand Breakers' captain Paul Henare assuming the mantle of rookie coach after a sterling stint from his assistant, Kirstin Taylor, the Hawks were definitely not clutching at inspirational straws to send the Auckland Pirates back on the highway without any booty.
Consequently the Hawks answered their fans emphatically, putting on a commanding performance to show Henare they meant business as they ground down the new Auckland franchise team 89-74 at the Pettigrew-Green Arena, Taradale.
The coach got a standing ovation from the near-capacity crowd before the tip-off.
Again it wasn't vintage basketball, with the Hawks guilty of unforced errors, gifting turnovers and committing travelling and shot-clock violations. Having said that, one has to agree that if a team can do all that and not look like losing at any stage of the game, come play-offs time the Bay fans will be in for a treat.
Last night referees Shane Nikora and Apai Apai, of Hawke's Bay, and Andy Thackray, of Masterton, had their ears chewed off.
Henare and his counterpart, Kenny Stone, confronted the officials, but Thackray ushered Henare back to his bench 34 seconds before the first-quarter buzzer went with the hosts leading 24-16. Five minutes, 23 seconds into the second spell, the game came to a halt as Henare interjected, remonstrating with Thackray who had called a timeout to resolve issues before Nikora picked up the brainstorming session.
Up 48-37 at the breather, Paora Winitana cautioned they needed to keep their foot on the Aucklanders' throats. "Keep them out of the shooting lane," Winitana said.
Pointing to the white board, Henare lauded his men for their offensive and defensive rebounds but told them to muscle up. "Keep that [running game] going. You look good when you do that," he said, adding the Pirates were looking lethargic.
In the opening seconds of the third quarter, Pirate Bartlett and small forward Josh Pace tripped each other with the US import hobbling and grimacing.
But when the dust settled the Hawks were 71-55 ahead with the crowd raising the roof as guard, Aidan Daly sunk a three-pointer from outside the red line.
Forward Arthur Trousdell and Pace spearheaded the Hawks' scoring with double doubles.
Leftie Pace top scored for the hosts with 19 points and two assists, while Trousdell was next on 15 points, a gobsmacking 14 rebounds and five assists.
Forward Benny Hill was a deadly 100 per cent from outside the red line, sinking four from four for his 12 points.
While it's an enviable winning streak, the Bay franchise are mindful of the defending champions Wellington Saints who also boast a 100 per cent record following their high-scoring 124-102 victory over the Taranaki Mountain Airs last night away in New Plymouth despite having played two fewer games than the Hawks. A game-high 24 points went to Pirates' forward Raheim Brown who also had seven assists.
The other import Kevin Mickens and ex-Hawk guard Bartlett contributed 15 each.
"We got Dillon Boucher back [from the Breakers] and that's a good thing, but we need to find a gelling point," Bartlett said, claiming they were going to vent their spleen on the Manawatu Jets in Palmerston North first tonight before worrying about taking on the Hawks at home on Wednesday, May 18.
"We're having to sort out our systems and need to gel and we're having those new-team problems.
"It's the first half of the season. It wasn't the result we wanted so we'll just have to take it on the chin and get better. I think our lack of rebounding killed us tonight," he said, adding a videotape session would solve issues.
"We know the Hawks press the ball really hard and we knew that we needed to box them out and we just didn't do that."
Bartlett said he missed out on signing with the Hawks after an off-season training with the Perth Wildcats.
"It was great with the Wildcats and I was planning on staying over there," he said, adding he had erred in not responding to emails from the Bay franchise.
Basketball: Seven and oh, so sublime Hawks
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.