Hawks juggling act trickier than Brian Goorjian thought

Hawks coach Brian Goorjian admitted as much following his side's loss to the Phoenix on Sunday in which marquee pair Deng Adel and Cam Bairstow were both available for the first time since the season-opener.

Both endured injury-disrupted preseasons - particularly Bairstow - so neither had a huge bank of preparation despite being available for game one. The performance of both on Sunday was encouraging.

Bairstow's nine first-quarter points were really the only time the Hawks were dictating terms throughout the game. You'd have to think it bodes well, but Goorjian admitted post-game that injecting two star players was trickier than he'd anticipated.

"On the coaching standpoint I probably struggled a little bit," Goorjian said.

"We've added two guys to the rotation and there's an adjustment there. We've got Adel back into the lineup, Cam back into the lineup, and there was a little bit more to it than I thought.

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"It's really hard if you're relying on one guy or three guys to carry you. This team's kind of built [differently]. We've got such tremendous depth and then you add two more players.

"Certain lineups, you look out there and you're going to run this set or that set and you look and go 'God they've never played together before, can't run that one'. We're going to do this defensively and you go 'oh he's not normally in that spot' so there's a process to this and that falls on the coaching staff.

"I was a little surprised there but I've got to take part of the responsibility and have a look at how I move bodies."

Adel finished with 17 points at 50 per cent from the field in 26 minutes - only Tyler Harvey and Justinian Jessup played more - while Goorjian used fourth-quarter junk time to get some time into Bairstow's legs.

He feels both will be a lot better for the run but, with just one day's prep for his side's first home clash with Melbourne United on Wednesday, there's not a whole lot of time to put the puzzle together.

"In the fourth quarter I played Cam as much as I could, he was on restrictions minutes-wise and I thought he came out of it good," Goorjian said.

"Adel's rusty, there's no doubt. He shoots the ball better than this and he's better with the ball in his hands. [On] the other side of it it, he's really good at pushing the ball, he's really good at getting out on the break and he defends.

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"I think that other side of the ball, the offensive end, isn't quite there and it's affecting the other side. I think tonight, guarding the point-guard (Keifer Sykes), guarding [Mitch] Creek... he struggled there.

At the offensive end he put a lot of pressure on himself with the ball and shooting. That's what I keep talking about, you've got to stay on the things that you can control and those other pieces will come if you get that down."

There's no doubt the Hawks championship hopes rest on Adel and Bairstow starring and you expect both to come good. If anyone can get it right quickly, it's the master coach.

NATIONAL GIG MAKES HAWKS A TARGET

Goorjian made the point after Sunday's loss that this new-era Hawks can't rely on coming in and surprising teams the way the club has in the past.

With the six-time championship-winner at the helm and a roster more talent-stacked than just about any time in the club's four-decade history, the Hawks may well be punching down for the first time ever.

Goorjian also noted another factor that will probably be an ongoing one. It concerns his role as national head coach and the requirement to overlook certain local players for extended squads. On the flip-side, there's plenty looking to impress him should further opportunities arise down the track.

He hinted as much after Cam Gliddon - who was a regular part of the Boomers set-up under former coach Andrej Lemanis - lit up the third quarter in a match-stealing display on Sunday.

"There's another side of me as the national coach, you make cuts on certain players and they come into these games jacked up to show [you]," Goorjian said.

"I've experienced that before when you're the national coach and you're coaching in this league that adds fuel to the fire."

STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE

It tells you just how long Goorjian has been a giant figure in the league when, with each coming game, there's an intrigue added by his history.

On Sunday it was a return to 'the heartland' of South East Melbourne where he began his journey as a title winner, while the Hawks will take on the Kings this Sunday, a club Goorjian coached to three straight titles.

Adam Gibson, who missed Sunday's game with injury, was one of just three players still in the NBL to have played under Goorjian in his first coaching stint.

He'll face another in Dave Barlow this Wednesday, but it's the role several of his former stars are now playing off the court that makes each week a stroll down memory lane.

"Every game or every time we go on the road something new, emotionally, appears," Goorjian said.

"It was there playing Brisbane with Andrej [Lemanis], CJ [Bruton] and Sam Mackinnon. We're playing Cairns and there's [coach] Mike Kelly. You come back here and this, for me, is where it all started, this area.

"Nunawaning, Eastside [Spectres], this is where it all started. I've got a lot of family, a lot of friends here. Mentally I was trying to enjoy it and I was really excited about the opportunity.

"I would've liked a better game and result but there were a lot of players feeling the same thing. [They're] from Melbourne originally and had family here. Emotionally [there's something] almost every game and every place we go."

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