Basketball: Hawks tentative in start
The result against basketball favourites Wellington Saints yesterday was, to an extent, expected for a team who are “fine tuning their systems”.
But the other crucial factor – in some respects more significant than a win – was the “sixth man”, the near-capacity Pettigrew-Green Arena that made the most of the franchise’s gold-coin entry gesture to lure the Indigo Hawks faithful to whet their appetites.
“It was fantastic turnout. Thanks Hawke’s Bay for the support,” new coach Kirstin Daly-Taylor said last night, soon after the Wellington Saints beat them 89-74 in Napier.
Asked if the Chris Porter and Aidan Daly-captained Hawks had left an impression on the fans, the former Tall Fern replied: “I hope so and that means a hell of a lot to the guys. A full stadium as the sixth man just keeps you going.”
However, Daly-Taylor believed the Hawks “let ourselves down a little bit”, after pockets of empty seats cropped up after halftime with the Kevin Braswell-coached Saints leading 50-37.
She said the hosts showed last season’s grand finalists too much hospitality, rather than muscling up when the physicality stakes hit a crescendo but reconciled that with a new outfit still tinkering its processes.
“It was their first game so they had to wake up to the physicality,” said Daly-Taylor, adding the visitors were up in the Hawks’ face all the time but, once they weathered the storm, Wellington got into foul trouble and retreated into “their zone”.
“We actually looked better, we looked okay,” she said, reflecting on a first quarter where the Hawks set the pace but wilted under a couple of shots from downtown to trail 21-16.
After first shots at the rim, she said the Hawks failed to rebound and didn’t lay up. The statistics endorsed that, 40-30 in favour of Wellington.
“But I’m pretty happy. First game, the Saints on 89 [points] so I’m okay with the boys.”
It did bother her that they managed to muster only 11 assists as a team, which was a resounding indication that the Hawks weren’t expansive enough in ball distribution while covering floor space.
“We’re probably 12 points short of what I would’ve liked and they are basically nine up on what they are supposed to get.”
Daly-Taylor felt her men were tentative a little.
“We made errors and committed unforced errors. Against the Saints you can’t make a casual pass,” she emphasised.
She singled out forward Darryl Jones for his defence and “fantastic energy”.
“We probably had three patches where we were flat and our bench – I said to them, come on boys, get it going, get it going,” Daly-Taylor said, as the bench sprung to life in the third quarter with an 16-11 statement in their favour.
Former Manawatu Jets guard Matt Te Huna was great off the bench with 13 points.
“DJ [Jones] did a great job on the block one-on-one against their bigs. They are so huge. We contained them at times and did a fantastic job in stopping their fast breaks but they’ve come down half court and pounded inside,” she said, agreeing their three-point shooters were on the money.
Last year’s league MVP Craig Torrey finished with double-double of a game-high 26 points and 13 rebounds with Shea Ili adding 19 and Charles Jackson 14 despite not playing the last spell because of a gash on his eyelid that required stitches.
Ili had five assists while Henry chimed in with seven rebounds.
For the Hawks, Porter had a team-high 21 points with Matt Te Huna adding 13 and Alonzo Burton 10.
Porter also had six rebounds with Burton but the Hawks looked anaemic in the assists department with only Daly and Burton collecting three each.
Braswell said they didn’t scout the Hawks but felt Daly-Taylor “will make one hell of a coach” and results would favour them once they play a few more games.
“We controlled the rest of the game [after the first quarter] but I think we were a bit sloppy tonight, turning the balls over too much,” he said, looking forward to the two-week break.
The Hawks host Nelson Giants at 1pm this Sunday.