Hawks don't aim to be Shark bait

Paul Henare didn't have a clue until his partner, Lisa Wilson, brought it to his attention.
Speaking at the annual awards night function, the HBS Bank Hawks coach told sponsors, players and guests Wilson had aptly pointed out to him the team had lost only four games by the end of the round-robin matches in this Bartercard National Basketball League (NBL) season on Friday night.
That record equalled what Henare's predecessor, Australian Shawn Dennis, had achieved when the Hawke's Bay franchise claimed their maiden NBL title in 2006.
Later in his speech, guard Paora Winitana joked that maybe if assistant coach Kirstin Taylor - filling in for Henare who was in the throes of leading the New Zealand Breakers to their maiden Australian national basketball League title - had stayed on, the Hawks would have been undefeated.
All jokes aside, tomorrow the Hawks host wounded Southland Sharks after the Manawatu Jets turned them into fish and chips in Palmerston North on Saturday night with an 87-67 win.
On Friday night, the Hawks toyed with the Sharks, albeit minus the pivotal pair of Mark Dickel and Brendon Polybank, who were warming the bench in what can best be described as a dead rubber.
At best a scrimmage, the Pettigrew-Green Arena faithful in Taradale will find a different Sharks returning to try and cause what would be tantamount to the season's biggest upset in NBL this year.
Everything suggests the Sharks will be out of their depth against the quietly confident Hawks when the quarter-final tips off at 7pm.
In an interview after the awards at the Kennedy Park Top 10 Resort, Henare wasn't game to say they took nothing from Friday night's outing.
"Even for us, I wouldn't say we were just experimenting but it was a good chance to spread the minutes out a bit," he said, adding Czebalos Smiler and Ben Valentine got some quality minutes.
The Hawks, he said, would also offer a different constitution to the visitors in Napier.
"It was a dead rubber, so to speak, but this one you'll be playing for your season so it's going to be intense."
Henare and Taylor went on a snooping mission to Palmy North on Saturday night.
"I thought Manawatu came out and played really well and jumped on top of the Sharks really early and mixed it up with the defence really early," the former Tall Black guard said.
He felt Sharks coach Richard Dickel's frustration as his troops threw the kitchen sink at the Jets but things didn't go their way.
"I think they realised pretty early on things weren't going to happen for them so they'd be heading back to Hawke's Bay," he said, mindful Southland preferred to lock horns against the Nelson Giants.
However, Henare was confident tomorrow night the Sharks would be over their disappointment. With a line-up that went nine-deep, he said some players would probably not get much game time in the play-offs.
"Yes, you go in with your so-called horses and expect them to do the job but it's basketball and sometimes you expect guys to step up and who knows where that'll come from."
While there was a short turnaround for the semifinals/final on Friday and Sunday, Henare was loathe to look beyond beating Southland first.
Richard Dickel last night lamented "not turning up" to play the Jets.
"Hawke's Bay is a tough proposition on Tuesday but we also have nothing to lose," he said, emphasising the Hawks and Jets played differently. The Jets had pushed the Sharks to the periphery of the court with zonal defence, forcing them to chance their arm.
"You have to make your jump shots and if you don't then you'll struggle any night," Dickel said, aware the Hawks perform some tasks extremely well, especially at home. "I think we've got enough talent and belief to give them a run for their money."
Last night at the awards, US imports Josh Pace and Galen Young took four of the five major awards. Small forward Pace was the top points scorer of the regular season as well as the 2011 MVP.
Power forward Young pipped Arthur Trousdell by two rebounds for the board honours.
In accepting the silverware, Pace and Young dedicated their awards to a team effort.
A grinning ex-Tall Blacks guard Paora Winitana accepted the Players' player of the Year award, jokingly claiming his silverware called for individual bragging rights.
The Andy Edwards Service Award went to Kevin Atkinson, who has sponsored the side for two decades and served as manager.