Co-captain’s blunt message to Hawks

A third-quarter fightback wasn’t enough to save the Illawarra Hawks against Brisbane, who fell to their seventh loss of the season on Saturday night.

“I think we’re feeling sorry for ourselves,” co-captain Sam Froling said following the disappointing result.

“I was part of it; when you get in that headspace, it’s not good, it’s contagious, and we got to stop.

“You’re not going to win with that mindset, so we have to find a way for the group.”

Two days earlier, the Hawks welcomed the Sydney Kings to town and struggled to find a way to compete.

It left Justin Tatum highlighting his team’s need to bounce back against the Brisbane Bullets.

“It’s more disappointing for our fans, because we want to make sure that they win the next time they see us,” Tatum said.

The Hawks now head into a big period with away games before the FIBA Break and won’t return home until early December.

“Everyone’s got to look at themselves in the mirror to stop feeling sorry for themselves,” Froling added.

“If we don’t do that, we’re not going to win another basketball game.”

While things aren’t clicking right now for the Hawks, the one shining light has been the play of fan favourite Dan Grida, who continues to impress with his relentless effort.

“Grida comes in, and he brings the energy. He brings that, and we take him out because he’s gassed and the energy drops,” Froling said.

“We have one guy leading from that front right now, and that’s not good enough. That’s not going to win us basketball games.

“We need everyone on the court to have that same energy that Grida carries for us to win basketball games.”

Illawarra travels to Perth on Saturday, October 31 to face the Wildcats from 9.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN, 9 (Sydney and Melbourne), 9Go! and 9Now.