Illawarra Hawks new guard grab major NBL awards

Even after doing the seemingly impossible in luring mastercoach Brian Goorjian back to the NBL, the pair were literally starting from scratch.

Having walked from the wreckage of the Sydney Kings Firepower collapse more than a decade ago, it's a task both could have had an aversion to, with or without a global pandemic to contend with.

Instead, after a whirlwind 12 months, they've taken the foundation club from last place to the finals, bowing out on Monday in a series decider in Perth, in a year that saw the franchise overcome a myriad of challenges that crippled other clubs.

Read more: Postponement of Indigenous All Stars fixture forces change to Group Seven draw

It came to some fruition on Wednesday night, with the club featuring heavily in the NBL Awards. Goorjian lost out in Coach of the Year voting to Perth's Trevor Gleeson, but Justin Simon dominated voting to claim the coveted Defensive Player of the Year award.

Sam Froling was named the league's Most Improved Player, while Tyler Harvey ran second to Bryce Cotton in MVP voting and was named in the All-NBL First Team. Harvey and Simon were runaway winners in both categories at the Hawks club awards also announced on Wednesday night.

With a traditional October start to next season looming, both imports will have their suitors in another quick-fire free agency period. Kordahi said the club aims to retain both, but Goorjian remains the key.

"Our aim is certainly not have a revolving door of players," Kordahi said.

"We knew what we were getting, we knew Tyler was a big scorer and knew he could shoot the ball. What he brought as far as personality and character off the court and to the culture he was fantastic for us.

"Justin Simon, we knew exactly what he could do but it all starts with the coach. Having Goorj there, that's the important piece. We put a big budget in this year, it was the most the club has spent on its roster, but if we had this team with another coach I don't know if we would've achieved what we achieved in terms of getting the best out of players.

Read more: Stewart sets sights on Olympic gold after five-year rollercoaster

"Deng Deng had limited opportunities with other teams but working under Goorj we saw what he could do. You look at AJ [Ogilvy] and what he achieved this year. It comes down to leadership and how you empower your players and how they buy into what you're doing.

"They all believed in it and played for each other and that's hard to get in year one."

They'd be entitled to a spell, but they won't be getting that either, with Kordahi saying the rebuilt club remains very much in the "start-up" phase after just one season under new ownership.

"I'm really proud of where we're at as a club because it was the hardest thing I've ever done in business," Kordahi said.

"I think we've certainly built a culture of what this club's about, but we've got a lot of work to do on and off the court. It's going to be bloody hard because we're just finishing now and we're literally eight weeks out from preseason.

"I would have loved to have a five-month off-season and work out with the coaching staff what sort of team we need and build our commercial assets. Time is your friend in business, but we don't have that and we need to move quick.

"We're still behind the eight-ball a little bit but we're better off than where we were at the beginning of the year."

Read more: Goorjian out to keep Hawks stars on deck for second title tilt

Kordahi is hoping a more traditional schedule will help build on the work of the new ownership group next season but the support of the community remains the key.

"If this club's going to be viable long-term, and if this club wants to rival the big teams, keep its players, not lose players to bigger teams and bigger budgets, we just need everyone's support," Kordahi said.

"We need the fans and corporates to come on board so we can sustain this and rival the Melbourne Uniteds, Perths, Sydneys. Our slogan is "all in" and that's what we need from this community."

Hawks NBL award winners:

Defensive Player of the Year: Justin Simon

Most Improved Player: Sam Froling

All-NBL First Team: Tyler Harvey

Illawarra Hawks club award winners:

MVP: Tyler Harvey

Defensive Player of the Year: Justin Simon

Player's Player: AJ Ogily

Peoplecare Member's Favourite: Tyler Harvey

Community Award: Tim Coenraad

Club Person of the Year: Aaron Anderson

We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.