'Ain't over ’til it’s over': Hawks won’t surrender

The Illawarra Hawks may be sitting in eighth spot, with an 8-15 record, but they aren't giving up hope of defending their NBL25 championship.

Their next two fixtures are against the fifth-placed Perth Wildcats (14-10) and sixth-placed Tasmania JackJumpers (12-13), who both currently hold the final two Play-In spots.

As such, Hawks championship winning forward Daniel Grida has called the fixtures as "double win games", allowing them to make up ground quickly.

"These games are essentially a double win; we get a win, and they get a loss, so those games really help us. There are some really important ones coming up," Grida told the Illawarra Mercury.

"We're treating every game the same. We've gotta win every game and then let the results do what they do, with the other teams winning or losing games. We're trying to control what we can control and just win as many games as we can."

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Grida, who's scored double-figures in two of his past three games, knows the task isn't going to be easy, as the reigning champions are getting every other side's "best shot".

"No one's happy with where we are on the ladder at this point of the year. Teams are all giving us their best shot because we were the champs last year, that's been tough to get through, but we're doing our best, and we'll see how we go these next few games," Grida said.

The Hawks' HoopsFest fixture with the Wildcats tips off at 9.30pm AEDT (6.30pm AEDT) on Friday, live on ESPN.

Read the full story here >> Grida's personal triumph now fuels Hawks' desperate NBL finals' push