Nine wins from his side's past 11 games, complete dominance of the titleholders in three lopsided meetings, yet Illawarra coach Rob Beveridge still won't declare the Hawks championship material.
The third-placed Hawks dismantled reigning champions New Zealand 87-69 on Thursday night in Wollongong, boosting their record to 13-8 and moving a step closer to a top-four finish.
Illawarra have thrashed the Breakers by 21, 24 and 18 in three clashes this season and will like their chances of completing a 4-0 sweep of their regular season series on Sunday afternoon in Auckland.
Wooden spooners last season for just the second time in the club's 37-year history, the Hawks have already doubled the measly six wins of that dysfunctional group.
Beveridge knows his squad is probably the league's deepest and most talented, but he shrugs off mounting favouritism about their championship prospects.
Illawarra captured their one and only title back in 2001, losing to Sydney in the 2005 grand final series and Perth in the 2010 series.
"We're playing really well and with a lot of confidence, but we weren't a championship-calibre team tonight," Beveridge said of the performance against the Breakers.
"We had too many lapses, we were up and down. We have to be ruthless. We can't win a championship with too many lapses and we can't have a soft underbelly.
"It's a mental side of the game we are getting a whole lot better at. It's hard when we're playing great but I know how much better we can be, so I'm not going to take the foot off these guys and let them feel too content. They've worked to hard to get where they're at."
Corey Webster led New Zealand with 23 points, though most of those came when the contest was well and truly over.
The Breakers only win in their past five games was against the last-placed Sydney Kings.
Their record stands at 11-9, one win ahead of the Adelaide 36ers.
