Illawarra coach Rob Beveridge has warned his increasingly hard-edged Hawks will stick up for themselves and not be bullied as the National Basketball League (NBL) playoffs get underway.
Beveridge wasted no time starting the mind games and putting the squeeze on the three other semi-finalists on Sunday, declaring all were under more pressure than his season surprise packets.
The third-placed Hawks' 106-95 home win over Adelaide on Saturday night ended the 36ers' chances of finishing fourth and completed the playoff puzzle.
In one semi-finals series, Illawarra will face second-placed Perth, a club Beveridge mentored to an NBL title in 2014, and against whom the Hawks lost all four regular season encounters.
In the other best-of-three game series, minor premiers Melbourne United will go in against defending champions and fourth-placed New Zealand Breakers, having lost to them twice in the final round.
While United rested three key players when thrashed 100-63 in the away clash on Friday, they were all back when the Breakers prevailed 70-68 in a Sunday thriller at Hisense Arena.
Beveridge insisted the other teams all had more reason for concern.
"We're going to be pretty relaxed," Beveridge told AAP.
"To me, it's going to be Melbourne, Perth and New Zealand have got the pressure on them.
"Those three teams to me are the most resourced teams in the league and we're the paupers of the league and for us to get third spot, we've got no pressure on us at all."
Illawarra have climbed from eighth and last in the 2014-15 season, with Beveridge overseeing the resurgence sparked by a new-look, well balanced roster starring free-scoring guards Kevin Lisch and Kirk Penney and skilled centre AJ Ogilvie.
"I'm really proud of what we've achieved and this is one of the greatest experiences I've had, to take a team that only won six games last year and we've won 17," Beveridge said.
Renowned for their high-scoring, electrifying offence, Illawarra are starting to show more steel to go with their style.
A scuffle inside the first minute of Saturday's game resulted in Hawks' centre AJ Ogilvy being called for an unsportsmanlike foul, along with Adelaide stars Jerome Randle and Anthony Petrie.
"The way teams try and beat us is by being physical and we've now got to the point where we're not going to take it anymore," Beveridge said.
"We're going to stick up for each other and that's what's happening.
"It's not that I want our players to go out and fight, but they have to stick up for themselves when they get bullied."
The prolific Randle was restricted to just 15 and left the game early when he was ejected after picking up a second unsportsmanlike foul midway through the fourth quarter.
With several stars sidelined and their top-two placings already secured, Melbourne and Perth each suffered a blowout loss in a long-distance road game in the first half of the final round.
United left Chris Goulding, Daniel Kickert and Hakim Warrick at home as they were thumped 100-63 by the Breakers.
A vastly understrength Perth without Jermaine Beal, Casey Prather, Damian Martin and Nate Jawai, crashed 103-77 at Sydney.
Spirited Townsville rounded off an tough but encouraging campaign with a couple of home wins.
The Crocs scored a 85-68 victory over north Queensland rivals Cairns and shaded Sydney 126-123 despite Jason Cadee and Josh Childress scoring 32 and 31 respectively for the Kings.
NBL SEMI-FINAL SERIES (best of three games)
1-MELBOURNE UNITED v 4-NZ BREAKERS
Game 1: Thursday, Feb 18, Hisense Arena 7.30pm(AEDT)
Game 2: Saturday, Feb 20, Vector Arena, 5.30pm (AEDT)
Game 3: (if required) Friday, Feb 26, Hisense Arena TBC
2-PERTH WILDCATS v 3-ILLAWARRA HAWKS
Game 1: Friday, Feb 19, Perth Arena, 6.30pm (AEDT)
Game 2: Sunday, Feb 21, WIN Entertainment Centre, 3pm (AEDT)
Game 3: (if required) Friday/Saturday, Feb 26/27, TBC
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