THE Perry Lakes Hawks scored two impressive wins last weekend to start to get their 2015 SBL season on track and it was no coincidence that it went together with import guard Bryton Hobbs delivering his best two performances of the year.

Coming into last weekend, the Hawks had lost five of their last six matches but the wins over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Goldfields Giants improved them to a 4-9 record heading into this Saturday night's clash with the Geraldton Buccaneers at Active West Stadium.

The Hawks might have lost their previous three games against the Perth Redbacks, Willetton Tigers and Joondalup Wolves coming into last weekend, but coach Charles Nix did think that some positive results weren’t too far away.

That began on Friday with the 115-103 victory over the Eastern Suns at Bendat Basketball Centre and then on Sunday afternoon, they put an end to a four-game winning streak by the Giants to beat them by seven points in an impressive performance at the same venue.

The victories put the Hawks back in the playoff hunt even considering this week's tough task in Geraldton against the Buccaneers, but Nix was happy to see his team click with back-to-back winning performances in the one weekend.

"We felt like we've been getting there over the last month," Nix told SBL Slam on 98five Sonshine FM.

"We had a really good game against the Wolves a couple of weeks ago and defensively we've been pretty solid, so we thought we were every chance to get these two wins.

"But the Giants had won four on the trot and had beaten the Magic by 28 on Saturday so we definitely had the backs against the wall coming into the weekend."

While last weekend's wins for Perry Lakes was far from a one man show, Hobbs put in two outstanding performances to help the Hawks to the wins.

He began with a season-high 43 points, seven rebounds and four assists against the Suns on Friday and then on Sunday against the Giants, he had 35 points, 11 boards and six assists.

Nix has been impressed with the development of Hobbs over the course of the season so far as he has settled into playing in the SBL and all that goes with it.

"Like most imports, it takes you a few weeks to understand how the game is called, how it's played and what you can get away with," Nix said.

"His shooting percentage was down because he was playing for fouls, but now he's attacking the rim and he doesn’t showboat anymore. He's all about business and that's good."

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin