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Hawks head home to toughen up against Wildcats

Casey Prather of the Perth Wildcats.
Expert
1st March, 2017
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There was minimal surprise or spice to Game 1 of the NBL grand final series, with the Illawarra Hawks fighting against the odds but the Perth Wildcats prevailing at Perth Arena 89-77.

The Wildcats’ win came on the back of 22 points from Casey Prather, 18 points and 11 rebounds from Matt Knight, and 18 points from Bryce Cotton.

The biggest difference was in the rebounding, with the Wildcats pulling in 40 to 29 overall, but it was on the offensive glass where the game was won, Perth having 17 to three on the way to 23 second-chance points to four.

The Hawks fought hard, with AJ Ogilvy battling through an ankle injury, and his back up Michael Holyfield left ineffective.

On top of that, import forward Marvelle Harris missed the game due to returning home to the United States to be with his ill father.

That all added up to the Wildcats going up 1-0 in the best-of-five series, as they chase an eighth NBL championship and back-to-back for just the second time, and the first since 1990-91.

There’s no question that the Hawks will put in a stronger effort on the glass on Wednesday night in front of their raucous home fans in Wollongong.

Harris could be back too and Ogilvy’s ankle has had a bit more time to recover.

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Former league MVP and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Rotnei Clarke still has to deal with the NBL’s best ever defender, Damian Martin. If he can get some help from his teammates he is capable of being a match-winner.

The equation is relatively simple though. It’s tough to imagine the Hawks being able to win the last three games of the series with two of those being in Perth if they don’t win at home on Wednesday.

If Illawarra wins, the series is locked at 1-1 and it’s back to a three-game series. A Wildcats win and it could very well be over back at Perth Arena on Sunday in Game 3.

While Hawks coach Rob Beveridge called his team’s effort “soft” on Sunday, that is one word that can never be used when referring to 156-game veteran guard Kevin White.

White leads the Hawks both by example and vocal leadership, and his physicality, tenacious defence and ability to give his all every time he is on the court makes him a favourite in Illawarra.

He knows now that the first job in Game 2 is to better on the boards and that comes down to their mental approach.

“We just have to be tougher, that’s what it comes down to. Rebounding is a mentality thing and you need the mindset that you want to come up with the ball. They have that mindset and we knew that against Adelaide, and that’s something we tried to take care of,” White told NBL.com.

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“In the first game they outrebounded us by 16 but in the second game it was two and the third was about the same margin.

“If we can limit that to a smaller margin we are going to give ourselves a great chance to win the game. They just absolutely dominated us with offensive rebounds and rebounding overall. We have to take care of that and come out and just be tougher.”

White is looking forward to his first chance to play in a home grand final game on Wednesday night, but knows that just being back in Wollongong doesn’t guarantee the result.

His aim is to win the next three games and not take it to a Game 5 decider in Perth.

“We aren’t coming back to Perth for a Game 5, we want to take care of Game 3 back in Perth and win both our games on our home floor. We don’t want to be back here for a Game 5, our focus is on winning the next three games straight,” White said.

“It’s going to be a massive challenge but if this group keys in on what we want to do and buys into the game plan then there’s no reason we can’t do it. We showed that in Adelaide.

“There was obviously some personal stuff said from Adelaide that drove us a little bit more and made that win sweeter, but we deserve to be here now and we want to prove that to everyone. People obviously think that Perth are going to walk away with this and we don’t believe that.”

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Meanwhile, Perth star Prather is back to his imposing best after being hindered mid-season by foot and ankle injuries.

He continues to prove himself unstoppable in the open floor and when attacking the rim, while more than capable of hitting the outside shot.

His one-two punch with Cotton looks capable of leading the Wildcats all the way to another championship in his second season in the NBL.

After helping lead the Cats to the title in 2016 and winning the club’s MVP, he has gone to another level this season either side of his injury woes and he feels that it appears things are falling in place for his team after a rollercoaster campaign.

“It’s totally different to last year, mainly because of the team. Last year we battled some adversity as well, but this year it has been unbelievable with how many different things came our way,” Prather told NBL.com.

“We’ve had injuries, imports getting changed over or leaving and all that, so it’s been a rollercoaster. I feel like this one right means a little bit more.

“The guys that I practice with each and every day have a will and determination to get things done. I had no doubt about it that we was going to make the playoffs, and once we got there I thought we’d put ourselves in a position where we could win it all.”

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While feeling good about things after Game 1, Prather knows that Perth can’t take the Hawks lightly.

“I feel like we need to be more mindful of what we can control ourselves as far as not thinking at all past Game 2. We can’t look ahead to Game 3 back here at home, they are a great team so we just have to lock in on our scout and the things that we need to do to win a game,” Prather said.

“They are a well-balanced team and everyone plays their role to a tee. Everyone on their bench can shoot, everyone who starts can shoot and they just do a good job of exploiting defensive mistakes.”

NBL grand final fixtures

All times AEDT

Sunday February 26
Game 1: Perth Wildcats 89 beat Illawarra Hawks 77 – Perth Arena

Wednesday March 1
Game 2: Illawarra Hawks v Perth Wildcats – WIN Entertainment Centre 7.30pm

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Sunday March 5
Game 3: Perth Wildcats v Illawarra Hawks – Perth Arena 3pm

Friday March 10
Game 4: Illawarra Hawks v Perth Wildcats – WIN Entertainment Centre 7.30pm

Sunday March 12
Game 5: Perth Wildcats v Illawarra Hawks – Perth Arena 7pm

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