Tatum sorry for naming referee: ‘This is all me’

Illawarra Hawks coach Justin Tatum has apologised for singling out an NBL referee after his side’s loss to Adelaide last Saturday night.

Tatum named the official in his post-game press conference, suggesting their presence had cost the Hawks momentum.

But he was keen to address those comments after Wednesday night’s Ignite Cup clash.

“Before I get to my feelings, I want to first address a situation that happened a couple days ago at our game that I want to be apologetic for,” Tatum said.

“I mentioned NBL official by name and I want to … let everybody know that there was no criticism or no ill will by it.

“So, I deeply truly apologise to that person. I apologise to our fans and my team and my administration for having any type of negative response … over the last couple days.”

Asked whether the League or club had requested the apology, Tatum was adamant.

“Nah, this is off me. This is off me,” he said.

“The focus should be about my team and how we progressing, you know, through this season. And if it was any of my guys have done anything negative, I would expect them to do the same thing.

“So, this is all me. This is all me.”

Tatum said he would leave the matter with the League.

“I don’t really want to talk about (it) anymore. The League and everybody else is handling it as they supposed to,” he said.

“At the end of the day, I feel that I wanted to get that off my chest.”

Illawarra beat South East Melbourne by 10 points on Wednesday night, built on a record 43-point second quarter.

The Hawks have now won three of their past four games to move to 5-9 for the season.