Illawarra Hawks one loss away from NBL Finals heartbreak against Perth Wildcats
The Illawarra Hawks have built a reputation for proving the doubters wrong, but it will take something special to do it again this time around.
Down 2-0 and one loss away from NBL finals heartbreak, the Hawks are staring down the barrel of their biggest task yet against the Perth Wildcats.
Family: Hawks coach Rob Beveridge has never seen a closer unit than his team.Credit:Getty Images
The Wildcats need just one win to sweep the series against the club's former coach Rob Beveridge - the Canberran mentor that helped create the beast that is Perth.
Beveridge led the Wildcats to the 2009-10 championship against the Hawks, which kick started an era of dominance that has seen Perth and the New Zealand Breakers split the past seven titles.
The Hawks started hot at home in game two, but heads dropped as they were overrun by the reigning champions in the second half.
"I believe in you guys. We can get this done," Beveridge said to his team after the game.
Beveridge always knew conceding the home court advantage and knocking over Perth in the finals was going to be a big ask.
But they've "proven everybody wrong" so far and are looking to do it again.
"It's extremely difficult to make it to a grand final series, it's even harder to win," Beveridge said.
"We've achieved a lot of things as a group. Everybody's written us off from day dot, we were tipped to come second last, we wouldn't make the playoffs, we wouldn't make the grand final.
"Everything has been set against us, we've proven everybody wrong."
His early success with Perth was also another chapter in Beveridge's long history with a handful of Wildcats players.
He signed Canberra's Jesse Wagstaff that season, whose parents taught him as a kid at school, and the move west saw Beveridge link up with Matthew Knight and Damian Martin again.
Beveridge had coached the pair at the Sydney Spirit, but it goes further back than that - all the way back to 2003.
The current Illawarra mentor coached the pair in Australia's successful under 19 world championship campaign.
Martin was captain of the team and new Cleveland Cavaliers signing Andrew Bogut was crowned the tournament's most valuable player.
Knight and Martin have played starring roles in the opening stages of the finals, but the former is rated a 50-50 chance to play by Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson as he recovers from a concussion.
Knight copped a stray elbow from teammate Casey Prather during Wednesday night's 89-77 win in game two.
Meanwhile, the Canberra Gunners have welcomed Shawn McEachin back into the club's head coaching role for the 2017 SEABL season.
NBL FINALS
Game 1 - Perth Wildcats 89 beat Illawarra Hawks 77 at Perth Arena.
Game 2 - Perth Wildcats 89 beat Illawarra Hawks 77 at WIN Entertainment Centre.
Game 3 - Sunday, March 5 at Perth Arena. Tip-off at 3pm AEDT.
Game 4 (if required) - Friday, March 10 at WIN Entertainment Centre. Tip-off at 7:30pm AEDT.
Game 5 (if required) - Sunday, March 12 at Perth Arena. Tip-off at 7pm AEDT.
Caden Helmers is a sports reporter for The Canberra Times