Hamish Bidwell
The sound of his players being critical of each other at practice this week was music to the ears of Shawn Dennis.
The 0800 Easy LPG Hawks basketball coach was not impressed by the huge number of turnovers the team coughed up during last weekend's losses to Poedium Harbour Heat
and the Auckland Stars and was anxious to swift turn-around in the team's attitude.
So when there were one or two harsh words spoken on the practice court, he knew an improvement was not far away.
The seventh-placed Hawks host a Scenic Circle Canterbury Rams team who are lying fourth in the Primo NBL tonight at the Pettigrew-Green Arena and Dennis says a hard-nosed approach will be essential if his team is to prevail.
"I believe we're starting to see the signs of the type of attitude that's required," Dennis said.
"We've got to come out and play defence and not turn the ball over. I believe there was a bit of complacency there last week and we thought we just had to turn up to win.
"I definitely think turnovers are a mental thing. When you make mental errors, you turn the ball over.
"I've seen the players getting on each other at practice about not taking care of possession, which to me is a good sign. I believe you've got to have inner-leadership to be successful, because the bottom line is that the coach is not out there on the floor so that leadership has to come from within."
After an unbeaten pre-season campaign and two wins from their first three games, Dennis expects Canterbury to be a tough proposition. Led by American import Ryan Prillman, who had the outstanding double of 26 points and 26 rebounds against the St Laurence Wellington Saints, Dennis says they are definitely a team with playoff aspirations.
He regards belief as their best attribute and says his side will have to raise their mental intensity a couple of notches to match it. Not that it means Dennis is suggesting the Hawks are underdogs.
"I don't go in for any of that stuff," he said.
"Right now it's all about the processes for us and if we go about them in the correct way then we'll come out on the right end of the scoreboard most of the time."
