Hawks "haven't beaten anybody"

With the Illawarra Hawks sitting third after nine rounds, Damon Lowery believes that they have plenty to work on towards the back half of the season.

“They haven’t beat anybody ... they haven’t had a major scalp other than the Kings,” Lowery said on NBL Now.

“But the Kings are officially no longer a scalp. The Illawarra Hawks own the Sydney Kings.”

Before the FIBA break, the Hawks hosted their interstate rival in a blockbuster clash in Wollongong and came away with a big seven-point win.

Illawarra has beaten Sydney twice so far this season, with the rest of their wins coming against teams in the bottom four positions on the ladder.

“You’re going to have to beat Perth, you’re going to have to go to Perth and win,” Lowery added.

“You’re going to have to beat United. I need to see major scalps falling, that’s the biggest challenge for me.”

In the losses to some of those stronger teams, Lowery believes it's all comes down to composure for the Hawks.

“Sometimes they can get emotional,” he said,

“When they are at their worst, they can get caught up in the drama, in the theatre of it all and they lose focus.

“I saw it happen against Melbourne United in Wollongong. I saw it happen in Adelaide ... they just kind of lose their way a little bit.

“That’s a big challenge for them. They need to sort that out and just remain locked in.”

The biggest positive for the Hawks is they’ve shown how strong they can be on both ends and have exceptional depth to cover every position.

“Everybody is comfortable. There’s nobody wishing they were something they aren’t as far as role goes,” Lowery said.

“Justin Tatum has done a stellar job in getting that message through to all the boys.”

The Hawks tip off Round 10 NBL action at home against New Zealand on Thursday night, live on ESPN from 7.30pm AEDT.