The Illawarra Hawks showed both why they could be a dangerous and yet frustrating side to watching early in the National Basketball League season on Sunday. In the regular season opener, the Hawks struggled very early and very late in the contest but used various runs to keep the game close on the day.
Fundamental in those runs were LaMelo Ball and Aaron Brooks. After a preseason where the two didn’t see a ton of time on the court, Ball and Brooks both were on the court for the majority of the fourth quarter, a frame in which the Hawks struggled down the stretch.
After the game, Hawks head coach Matt Flinn was asked about Brooks and Ball and the struggles with integrating two newcomers into the roster and rotation.
“They’re enormous talents, both those guys. It is a matter of us playing with two different tempos at times. We’re still getting an understanding of each other and we’re understanding time, score and when we need to get a good bucket and when we need to run. That’s something that we work on daily and we’ll continue to do. Those two guys are natural scorers and we certainly got a lot of belief in them. I feel like tonight was just one of those nights. We shot 16 percent from three, 63 (percent) from the foul line. It bodes well for where we’re going. We’re pretty happy where we’re at. We’ve got a great bunch of guys and we’re really together. We just need to fix up a couple things execution-wise and we’ll be good.”
With Brooks on the court, the Hawks, at least early in the system, see their offensive devolved into isolations and actions designed for Brooks to score. With Ball on the court, the offense is a bit more flowing with the youngster not looking for his shot as exclusively as Brooks.
On Sunday, the two were put into the lineup together down the stretch and it led to mixed results. It’s not surprising that the team needs more time to figure out how to play with both players on the court. If the team can get it all to click, they’ll have one of the best backcourts at the league and a real shot at success this season.
