How to watch & talking points: Illawarra v Adelaide

20 Dec 2025

illawarra hawks

adelaide 36ers

Reigning champions Illawarra and league-leaders Adelaide will both look to return to the winners' circle on Saturday in Wollongong.

Illawarra Hawks v Adelaide 36ers
Saturday, December 20, 5.30pm AEDT
WIN Entertainment Centre

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Talking points

Who bounces back best?
Both these teams had disappointing results a few days prior and will both want to get back on the winners' list here.

The 36ers fell short in overtime to Sydney after they played a flawless first half, whereas the Hawks had a fourth quarter to forget against United.

Adelaide is still the team to beat and the Hawks could really boost their Finals chances by inflicting back-to-back losses on them.

What is Plan B?
It’s the question that many have been asking about the 36ers – what is their backup plan if a team can keep Bryce Cotton quiet?

The Sydney Kings locked into the five-time MVP in the second half on Wednesday night and kept him quiet, which ended up being a major reason they were able to come back and win the game.

Do the 36ers turn to DJ Vasiljevic more? Or does Troy Brown Jr have to become more aggressive?

What they're saying

Hawks coach Justin Tatum on his team trusting one another:
"We need to trust each other. We're not really trusting each other at times on the floor.

"I think we got to do a better job just understand we just got to trust each other and move the ball and not allow teams to be so physical with us to not get into our offensive sets."

36ers coach Mike Wells on taking positives from Wednesday's loss:
“You never want to take an L (loss), but I think the learning process with a group, we functioned pretty well at times and then I think that their (the Kings) pressure ramped up.

“You give them credit, they're a big physical team, and then, you know, the shots weren't just as clean, the set wasn't as clean, the shot clock was on us.

“And they kind of wore us down to the point where we just had to rush a little bit more.

“But I saw a bunch of positives there. There's a bunch of things that as a coach you can correct and teach, and you want to move the group forward, and you know, that's what we'll do.”