Tatum's quiet confidence becomes a loud response

Three straight losses to start the season, and still Justin Tatum's belief in his team never wavered.

He'd been adamant in his post-game press conferences that the tide would turn. His side just needed time.

After a week of heavy criticism in the media, in which they were labelled "a mess" and had their effort called into question, the Hawks responded in the strongest possible way.

Dominant from the outset, they led by as much as 32 on the way to a 114-92 win over Adelaide, one of the championship favourites.

Tatum said the performance was no surprise to anyone inside the building.

"We had a great week of practice, man. Guys were locked in. We showed some stats that that really rubbed guys the wrong way," Tatum said in a post-game interview.

"There's things that we see in practice as coaches … that we know if we be consistent at it that ... we can give teams problems," he continued in his press conference.

"The light didn't shine for the first couple weeks, first couple games, but we never stopped believing."

The Hawks piled on 35 points in the first quarter and 65 by half-time, and shot 54 per cent for the game.

The defensive effort so many had questioned was there too. Illawarra won the rebounding battle and held six-time MVP Bryce Cotton to just four shot attempts.

At the other end, Kelan Martin led the way with 28 points on 5/7 from three, while Sam Froling added 19 points and 13 rebounds.

"Bit of the monkey off the back. Felt like we carried a bit of emotion from last year," Froling said.

"Game plan was sharp. I thought we had a really good week of practice and it showed out there and I think that's what we want to be, the Hawks for NBL27."

Tatum was quick to temper the result, noting what's at stake over a 33-game season.

"We want to build momentum, want to build confidence," he said. "We can't go backwards off the effort that we did today."

There's little time to savour the breakthrough, with the Hawks back on the road to face South East Melbourne on Sunday. Their first win will bring plenty of confidence, but a loss would drop them to 1-4 and leave them with a mountain to climb.

They're set to have some extra size for that one, with newly signed big Makur Maker likely to make his Hawks debut against the Phoenix after watching on from the sidelines on Friday night.

"He just got off the plane today. He's cleared through all the medical and everything and he was itching to get in today, but I was like, 'no … take your time, big fella'," Tatum said.

"He'll be hopefully available on Sunday."