Hawks coach fires back at star’s critics

Even at 2-8 and in a precarious spot, Justin Tatum never stopped backing his team.

That belief has been a constant since he took charge in the ’Gong. From the NBL25 championship side to last season’s group that missed Finals altogether, Tatum has stood by his players.

Three wins from their past four suggest that faith is being rewarded once again.

“You hear a lot of coaches say they don’t want to be great early, but you don’t want to be bad early either. But we was neither,” Tatum said following a 10-point win over South East Melbourne.

“I didn’t never seen us bad. We just had a lot of deficiencies, especially on the defensive end. Then we had to really start trusting each other more on the offensive end, and more we’re around each other, more we understand what our structure, our sets are, the better we’ll be.

“Offensively, we’re really good. We have so many players that can sit up there and make plays and they just got to find a way to be unselfish and trust each other, and so that’s just the process of, you know, building up a team.”

The results are starting to back him up. Illawarra has won away in Perth, Cairns and now Melbourne, either side of a 106-78 loss in Adelaide, to improve to 5-9.

Against the Phoenix, the Hawks put up 120 points in a comprehensive display.

It has come on a two-week road trip, with the Hawks battling more than just their opponents.

“We’ve been, you know, fighting some illness and some soreness through the group, but you know, being here for a couple days and being acclimated in Melbourne definitely helped,” Tatum said.

“These guys, like I said, I have really 11, 12 guys on this group that exceptionally talented and really, really great people. So, and they’re winners and they’re winners. And so today was a really good testament of how well we can play for four quarters … almost four quarters.”

The Hawks piled on 43 points in the second quarter on 15/19 shooting to lead 71-54 at half-time.

They were led by sharpshooters Milton Doyle and Kelan Martin.

“Teams used to really do that against us and that’s where we normally were saying our downfall was, in the second quarter,” Tatum said.

“And so now we trying to stop those runs and actually be the ones putting on the runs, and so I think we did a really good job with that today.”

No one has embodied the Hawks’ up-and-down start more than Doyle.

The star import went 6/7 from three and scored 22 points in the win, coming off just 3 points against Adelaide on Saturday.

“When we recruited him, when I signed him… I don’t care if he had eight or 10 bad games. I know how great this man is next to me,” Tatum said.

“I know it’s always take time for people to adjust to a new system, to a new team, to a new city. And then, you know, when you’re not playing well, you know, certain people get scrutinised, high-profile players get scrutinised, but he’s a true professional.

“Everybody in that locker room, in that city of Wollongong believes in him. So we had no doubt in our mind that he’s going to have games like this and even better.”

With Martin (27 points, 5/7 from three), Makur Maker, Tyler Harvey and Sam Froling all capable of filling it up, Doyle admitted the ball doesn’t always find him, and that he needs to be more assertive when it does.

“I think once I get a little open, I have to take advantage of it sometimes and not be passive,” he said.

The Hawks finish their road trip in Perth on Saturday night, and Doyle believes the fortnight away will define their season.

“This is going to build or break us. So, right now we’re in the building part of it,” he said.