Bevo quit despite being under contract for this season probably don't have the budget so looked down the bench at Flinn & Cooks and Cooks has already had a shot.

He's in a tough situation. He has to play Ball his contracted minutes.

But the team isn't going to win with Ball playing those minutes.

It's great for publicity. It's great for ball. But it's not great for wins.

Hawks are just making up the numbers this season.

For as talented and exciting and entertaining as Ball is, it's a shame the hawks will not reach their full potential.

Their team has a decent amount of talent to compete.

Assistant coach at SEM.

He has to play Ball his contracted minutes.

Flynn or Flinn.

cool

I actually agree Alphonso, it does feel like Flinn and his lack of experience is detrimental for the league. Simon Mitchell looks a vastly superior coach right now. It truly is a shame that All these eyes are on Illawarra without Geordie or Bevo... but if Ball went to Cairns when Fearne was coach, then we'd be writing about how much of a disgrace/embarrassment it is that Ball has to put up with playing under that defensive system.

It feels like roles for the squad haven't been selected still and whilst that makes the team fresh and interesting as you never know who will play, it's making them look very amateur. If they can stop fouling they'd look better also.

Nostraballmus sees Ball will be gone by Christmas

The Hawks roster isn't very good as they are playing an 18 year old 30+mins a game and it shows with the poor team results they are having.


The above said if you listen in the timeouts the extend of his coaching seems to be just play harder and he sounds like he should be in the front bar yelling at the rugby league on tv.

The people of Illawarra have well and truly proven they can't support a team. A potential future lottery pick and one of the biggest names in NBL history and they still can't get 5.5K to games. It can't be blamed on their marketing budget as Ball (and to a degree Brooks) sell themselves. Less than 1% of the Illawarra turns up to games. Not a good look going forward.

I have been super impressed with Melo, I think you could fairly accuse him of playing basketball without much care or passion. His talent got him by, but he really his pushing himself to get better. I listened to the WOj with Zo and the distance they have put with Lavar in regards to their development seems to be a good thing. I wouldn't be surprised if Melo goes number 1 because of this experience. He will come into the NBA with experience of a pro-life, where theres a lot more responsibility on the player to do things for themselves. This is hugely valuable, many rookies struggle with the adjustment to independence. Plus uber-talented, like 6;7 .

"... every three point shot Ball has taken has been under pressure..."

That is so laughably untrue.

Didn't coach tell Brooks that he needed to score 40 for Illawarra to win last night? That's a gameplan!

Its almost as if giving undeserved game time to a young player who isn't ready and will be long gone by the time he is ready isn't the best way to build a team the local fanbase can get behind.

Strange.

Citation on Ball's contract having a minutes stipulation?

Ball shouldn't be starting and isn't ready to run a team at this stage of his development.

The hawks are always going to struggle to get W's with the team as its currently being run.

The crowd at the game was disappointing, but surely plenty of that responsibility falls on the NBL for giving the Hawks another shitty Monday night game? I mean come on.

I don't blame Flynn solely for the Hawk's situation, although as the coach he would be the first to fall on his sword.

Ball is maturing, it takes time, I didn't think he would come in and be MVP, he is doing OK, his skillset is much higher than any 18 year old we see in the league.

The team balance is off. They need to get rid of Boone or DA in favour of a PF, probably Boone as import 4's are easier to find. I was hoping Blanchfield could do some of that but it seems no.

Hawks aren't too far off I think.

Maybe there's a good reason for 2 Monday night games (venue availability, etc), but it does seem like a shitty way to start the season. More interested to see the numbers they get on weekend games to gauge exactly how good or bad fan engagement is - it'd be a shame if they still don't get bums in seats because the Hawks may not have won a lot of games but they are still one of the most interesting teams to watch with Ball and Brooks - guaranteed a few "holy shit" moments each game.