Hooyah & Harden Up (Championship Series - Game 4)

Friday, March 21, 2025

To all the players, coaches and administrators, the following opinions are mine and mine alone.

Author disclaimer: To all the players, coaches and administrators, the following opinions are mine and mine alone. It’s ALWAYS business – and NEVER personal. So, if I name you, shame you, offend you or slap you on the back and put your name up in lights, just accept it for what it is and move on.

By Damon Lowery.

Game 4: Illawarra Hawks 80 defeated Melbourne United 71 (Series tied at 2-2)

Watch Game 5 this Sunday from 2.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN, 10 and 10 Play.

HOOYAH – Matthew Dellavedova kept the statisticians busy with another great performance, 17 points, 7 boards and 6 assists. If United wins, Delly is MVP.

HARDEN UP – All of you gotta cop this one. In front of a sold-out John Cain Arena, and with the champagne on ice, all you could score was 71. 71 ain’t beating anyone. These scoring droughts need to be studied.

WHAT WENT RIGHT – Held the Hawks to 80 and Delly had another rock solid game.

WHAT WENT WRONG – No player over 6 ft 4’ scored more than 6. Plus you lost the rebounding count, and shot 27 per cent from downtown.

IF I WAS COACHING:
1 – I’d bring in a hypnotist to convince the team they can actually score.
2 – Make the players tip out all the champagne that was in the locker room on ice.
3 – Devise an entirely different defensive scheme to shut down Will Hickey.

HOOYAH – Thrust into the starting lineup when Trey Kell III was ruled out due to injury - William Hickey, you led from the front and produced a career-high 22 points, adding 6 boards, 8 assists, and 3 steals. You are all HEART.

HARDEN UP – Sam Froling’s achilles. WHY??? Wishing you a speedy recovery, man.

WHAT WENT RIGHT – Got off to a great start defensively holding Melbourne to 12 first quarter points, defended the three-point-line, forcing United into 7/26, and collectively stepped up when Froling went down.

WHAT WENT WRONG – Could only score 28 in the first half.

IF I WAS COACHING:
1 – Demand no champagne to be brought into the building until after the game - because it’s a jinx!
2 – Demand the exact same desperation that was on display in Game 2.
3 – Because it’s going to be a circus over the next few days, make sure the players bunker down, and stay out of the spotlight.