IT'S been a frustrating start to his NBL career but Illawarra star Deng Adel is just glad his return from injury is not a rescue mission.
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Adel was one of the first Hawks to arrive in Wollongong from abroad and enjoyed a long preseason only to pick up a calf injury in the final stages of the Hawks first preseason outing against Perth.
He recovered in time for the season-opener against Brisbane but was restricted to just 12 minutes before sitting out with quad tightness. It saw him miss the Hawks next two games before returning for 17 minutes in a 20-point blowout win over the Taipans.
The Hawks 4-0 start has been made even more impressive by the fact Adel, and fellow marquee recruit Cam Bairstow have been largely sidelined, the latter unsighted since the opening game against the Bullets. While he's no fan of watching his team go around, Adel said it's been made easier by its performances.
"It wasn't that bad because I was at the games and so involved on the bench. I was excited and I was bringing a lot of energy so it didn't feel too bad, but basketball is what I love to do.
"I'd definitely rather be on the floor than on the sideline. I was training to play and it was good to get a couple of practices in [prior to the Cairns game] because I hadn't played for a while. It was fun being out there and even better to be 4-0."
The 25-year-old former Cleveland Cav blew out some cobwebs with four points and four rebounds at 2-9 from the field, but played a key defensive role on Taipans star Scott Machado.
It came on the back of simple instructions from coach Brian Goojian to go in with a defensive focus and not overplay his hand after a disrupted run through the first three rounds.
"You've got to credit coach for that because he sat me down for a good five minutes and said 'there's no pressure on you at all, just come in and get a feel for the game'," Adel said.
"He just said if I come in with an aggressive mindset and the rest will come. It can be [tough] but you don't want to come in and hurt the team or try and be too aggressive.
"It's just about finding your rhythm and just playing basketball, doing what I do best. He made it a lot easier that way. I'm just finding my groove and getting back to playing the right way, playing for my teammates. The more practices we get in, the easier it becomes."
Having spent virtually the last six weeks with a hyper-narrow focus on Cairns and Brisbane, Adel said the playing group is relieved to be looking at a different team in the Phoenix who they'll take on in Melbourne on Sunday.
In a welcome shift, the Hawks have spent the entire week preparing in Wollongong after being on the road since Boxing Day, with their first outing at the WEC to follow next Wednesday.
"[This week] was the first time we'd even practiced in our home arena," Adel said.
"We were just on the road packing and unpacking our suitcase so we had a little breather, a couple of days off, and we're just getting back to it. We've watched a couple of [the Phoenix's] games and they're a really good team.
"The NBL's pretty stacked this year so everybody's going to give it their best shot. We just had two teams [to scout], we went from Cairns to Brisbane and back so this is a different look, a different challenge for us, and that's really exciting."
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
