GAME THREE - WOLLONGONG v TOWNSVILLE
Pre Game
The only chance the Crocs can win this one is by bringing that defensive intensity they brought in game two, they made it very hard for the Hawks to run any type of offence. Corey ‘Homicide’ Williams must dictate the tempo and keep the crowd out of the game. If this is reversed and the Hawks start the stronger and get their crowd rocking then this could be all over by quarter time. It would be such a shame but really would you be surprised?
Gordie McLeod should let Williams get what he wants, limit him to about 25 points which will ease the pressure off his point guards, Rhys and Luke Martin. It will ease the nerves and let them play their own game. The key to this strategy though is limiting the production of the others, especially players like Hinder and Crawford. If they run with this type of game plan with Glen Saville and Matt Campbell locking their opponents down, Hawks can win by 10.
Game Time
The first quarter got underway with both sides getting their superstars early touches, Saville for the Hawks finished a runner and Homicide got to the free throw line. After missing his first three throws, Williams appeared to have all the space in the world to knock down the open jumper from the elbow. He could have tied his shoelaces and combed his Mohawk if he wanted too and still had time for the shot. It looked like Corey meant business; there was no holding up any fingers tonight. The bigs from the Hawks looked to dominate early on with some nice touches from Tragardh and Davidson. A nice fade away from Cameron Tragardh forced the Crocs to call a time out giving Cam every reason to fire up the crowd. The Hawks looked to blow this game out in the first quarter but Michael Cedar provided an instant spark off the bench hitting two threes to close out the quarter. The Hawks went into the break leading 29-17.
How about captain Russell Hinder; he is the laughing stock of the NBL in my opinion. As a captain you want to be keeping your side focused and disciplined, not finding the smallest guy on the court and giving him a cheap shot to the chest. He even continued to stare Rhys Martin down after Davidson gave him a shove.
The Crocs looked fired up to begin the second quarter with Cedar picking up from where he left off in the first, nailing another trifecta. Tovey then picked Rhys Martin’s pocket and looked to be fouled while taking the ball to the hoop. The referee saw it the other way, much to the crowds delight, and called it a charge. Hammer was furious and the replay showed that Tovey was fouled. It sure was a big call for the home side. Martin then took over the next few minutes scoring 9 points, two of them from a nice running hook shot. Homicide continued to play well looking to take the game in his hands with any chance he had. It looked as if he knew he needed to get his teammates involved, setting down picks for Williamson, whom connected on two of his open triples. However the 2nd quarter belonged to Dave Gruber, the Wollongong import. Gruber had 13 points on 5/5 shooting in the first half. He finished a monster dunk off, a nice dish from Tragardh and then proceeded to muscle his smaller opponents in the post for easy baskets. He told Hammer at half time “I have to give all credit to the guards getting me the ball”. Hawks led at the main break 52-44.
It seemed as if taking out Hinder and Peter Crawford’s production was working for the Hawks, as the Crocs had to look for other guys to step up. Hinder scored his first point of the match with 4:07 to go in the 2nd quarter off a free throw, Crawford hadn’t scored.
The Hawks came out of the half time break with a nicely executed play to get Saville open for a three; they are so well drilled and composed on offence. There were some dubious refereeing decisions which I thought could have gone either way during the third period. The Homicide travel that was called was very suspicious. Instead of Corey going to the line for a three point play, the Hawks came down, knocked down a jumper then forced a turnover and hit another. That’s a six point swing. The referees really should meet after a big call is made, especially when two of the three referees have made different decisions. Not to mention the unsportsmanlike foul called on Rolan Roberts, its finals time, of course there is going to be a little more contact than normal. A huge call, as Davidson knocked both free throws down and then nailed a triple.
With their backs against the wall the Crocodiles really stepped up their intensity on defence, especially in the final four minutes. It made me wonder why the hell they didn’t start the game off like that. The Crocs missed some easy layups in the final stages of the quarter which could have cut the deficit to single figures. The Hawks held their lead heading into the final break, 73-62.
The fourth quarter started with the Crocs throwing everything at the Hawks. Matt ‘The Saviour’ Campbell bought none of it nailing a deep two pointer with a hand in his face. With the game still in the balance, Trevor Gleeson subbed Williams out with his fourth foul. It was possibly the last game of the year, it didn’t make much sense. It happened to only be a 30 second rest for Homicide. It didn’t make much difference as Saville took over hitting some big jumpers to keep the scoreboard ticking over for the Hawks. The game was officially over when Williams (27 points, 5 assists, 7 rebounds) fouled out with 2:44 remaining on the game clock. Wollongong never looked troubled as they strolled their way into the final winning 88-76.
A proud Matt Campbell spoke to Hammer after the game where he thanked the crowd and said “I’m very proud of Wollongong for getting behind the team and now we can repay you with a final.” Gordie McLeod simply put it down too “playing as a team, no matter what is in front of us we are having a crack.”
All star performance from Dave Gruber finishing with 15 points on 5/5 shooting and 5 rebounds. What great production off the bench from the big fella. However my man of the match has to go to Rhys Martin. He really got his team involved by getting into the paint all night and his stats were outstanding, 16 points (7/8 shooting), 5 assists and 3 rebounds.
Wollongong will play Perth on Friday night 7pm Perth time on Fox Sports. I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be really tough for the ‘Gong, but how can you say that they can’t pull it off after they’ve come this far.
Sidenote: Russel Hinder 0/4 in 34 minutes, 2 points, Peter Crawford 0/5 in 24 minutes, zero points. Why were they in the game for this long when Rolan (10 points, 4 rebounds in 18 minutes) was providing so much energy for the Crocs? I think Trevor Gleeson will be kicking himself once he looks at the stats.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of the National Basketball League.
