Hooyah & Harden Up (Championship Series - Part 1)

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 1: Melbourne United 96 def Illawarra Hawks 88
Game 2: Wednesday night, John Cain Arena at 7:30pm AEDT, live on ESPN

DOUBLE HOOYAH ALERT!

HOOYAH 1 – Marcus Lee - my man, wow! What a time to have the best game of your NBL career. You are a champion, but were injured last year for the JackJumpers’ winning run. To quote the late, great Tina Turner, you were ‘Simply The Best’ with 14 points on 7/7 FG, 15 massive boards, and 2 blocks.

HOOYAH 2 – Shea Ili, ‘The Human Strait Jacket’ - you made it virtually impossible for Tyler Harvey to move, restricting him to nine points.

HARDEN UP – Rob Loe, you’re way better than this. 2 points and 1 rebound in 16 minutes? C’mon man. The Championship Series has started.

WHAT WENT RIGHT – United completely annihilated the Hawks on the glass. Tremendous second half defence restricted the Hawks to 35 points, and Lee showed up and showed out.

WHAT WENT WRONG – Chris Goulding picked up his second foul in the first quarter and missed his only shot. Loe gave next to nothin’, and United was down 10 at the half because they let Todd Blanchfield and Sam Froling do whatever they wanted.

IF I WAS COACHING:
1 – Start Lee over Loe. This is the Championship Series - gotta ride the hot hand.
2 – Tell Goulding: “under no circumstances can you pick up two fouls in the first quarter ever again”. 
3 – Remind the team to be the aggressor, because the Hawks will come in and play for their lives.

HOOYAH – Will Hickey, you didn’t play like it was your first Championship Series. You again flirted with a triple double: 14 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists in 19 minutes.

HARDEN UP – Trey Kell III, you are the straw that stirs the drink and there was not enough stirring going on with just 6 points on 3/11 shooting.

WHAT WENT RIGHT – Blanchfield came off the bench and caught fire in the first half hitting 11 points, to help build a 10-point lead. Great ball security with only 5 turnovers for the game, and 46 points off the bench.

WHAT WENT WRONG – Scoring just 35 points in the second half. Getting spifflicated on the glass losing the rebound count by 15, and Kell III and Harvey couldn’t get it going at all.

IF I WAS COACHING:
1 – I would’ve played Froling more in the fourth quarter. He hit a beautiful turnaround jumper and was subbed out shortly after and didn’t return. Froling was the leading scorer at that point with 16 and finished as the team’s leading scorer. 
2 – Sit down with Kell III and watch the Round 17 game when he scored 23 points at 50 per cent against United to restore belief in his scoring powers against them. 
3 – Tell the team that Game 2 in Melbourne is the mustiest of “must-win” games. We simply can’t go down 0-2 in a best of five series.