ILLAWARRA coach Rob Beveridge has delivered a glowing appraisal of key big-man Nick Kay, saying the reigning NBL Rookie of the Year “epitomises” what the Hawks are all about.
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The Tamworth product produced arguably his best performance in Illawarra colours in last Friday’s epic comeback win over Brisbane after star Hawks centre AJ Ogilvy fouled out in the third quarter.
The forward tallied 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Beveridge said the performance illustrated why he was so keen to jump on the phone to the former Townsville forward when the Crocs folded in the off-season.
“The way Nick’s been playing epitomises this club, the heart of this guy and how hard he plays no matter what,” Beveridge said.
“He doesn’t get caught with referees, he doesn’t get caught up with anything he just plays guts out, offensively, defensively, rebounding, running the floor, helping his teammates he’s just been outstanding.”
For his part, Kay was keen to deflect the attention labeling the win over the Bullets as a “huge team effort.”
“The momentum came from our defence,” Kay said.
“We started getting up in that third quarter and I don’t think the gap came down as much as we’d have liked but it was that effort early in that third quarter that really started that momentum and got guys working a bit harder on defence.
“By the end of the game it wore them down more than it wore us down so I was really proud of the guys. We played our butts off and thankfully got the win.”
Kay is into the first of a two year deal with the Hawks after forgoing offers from the likes of Perth and Melbourne, and has been one of their best this season.
He sits third in the average points per game with 9.32, second for rebounds with 4.91 and fifth in assists with 1.82.
The 24-year old spent four seasons at Metro State University where he finished fourth in rebounds, fifth in scoring and ninth in blocked shots on the all time lists for the school.
The win over the Bullets was the Hawks’ 12th and took them to second on the table going into Round 16, which sees them host the New Zealand Breakers.