Goorjian “embarrassed” with game one

Illawarra Hawks coach Brian Goorjian has labelled his team’s Game 1 semi-final loss to the Sydney Kings an embarrassment.

The Hawks were outscored 30-9 in the second quarter and despite a late charge, couldn’t do enough to get over the line at home.

Goorjian said the 89-79 loss was compounded by the fact it was in front of a sold-out crowd of 5621 – the biggest crowd in Illawarra since the 2010 Grand Final. It was also the Hawks’ second straight semi-final home defeat, including last year’s game two loss to the Perth Wildcats.

“I feel embarrassed and I'm sure the team does,” Goorjian said.

“We did this last year, won in Perth, came back here, and laid an egg. (We) work all year to get a crowd like this, get the town behind us…and it's not losing the game, it's how we played.

“The performance tonight, and what we wanted to do coming into the game, and how we played the game…very, very, very disappointing.

“They (Sydney) worked harder on the defensive end, they ran up and down the floor harder, they hit the glass harder.”

The series now shifts to Sydney for game two on Sunday, where the Kings will hope to qualify for the Grand Final in front of its home crowd, while the Hawks aim to force a decisive Game 3 on Tuesday.

Tip-off on Sunday is 3:00pm AEST at Qudos Bank Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN via Foxtel and Kayo Freebies, and 10 Peach.