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Illawarra star labelled “the most clutch player in the NBL" after championship buzzer beater
Nicholas Quinlan • March 16th, 2025 12:34 pm
NBL expert commentator Pete Hooley thinks that after Tyler Walker’s game winner in Game two can provide the momentum to help Illawarra win their second NBL championship in their 46-year history.
The best of five Championship Series is now tied at one apiece thanks to Illawarra’s import Walker hitting a game winning three with five seconds remaining in the game which sees Illawarra win 102-100 in Melbourne’s John Cain Arena.
However, Hooley was not surprised that Harvey drained the shot to give home court advantage back to Illawarra.
“I knew the ball was going to go into Tyler Harvey’s hands, that’s something they have done time and time again,” Hooley said on SEN’s Dwayne’s World.
“He’s the most clutch player in the NBL, you can have a look at just the highlights that he’s made over the course over the last five and a half/six years he’s been here,
"I think he’s had four buzzer beaters now,
“So, he just has an ability to rise in the big moments and we saw that again.”
There was some controversy surrounding Melbourne United and Chris Goulding’s decision to try and win the game with a three instead of going for a two pointer to send the match to overtime.
“It was a tough shot.” Hooley remarked.
“Melbourne just needed two to go to overtime and you kind of sit back say should they have gone for two,
“But sometimes you just try and draw something up, I’m probably from the pack where you have to give it to your superstars and tell them to make a play,
"And I have seen the screenshots and that ball was 60 per cent of the way down for Goulding but it bounced out and now they head back to Illawarra to game three.”
Despite no team winning at home so far, Hooley is still confident that Illawarra can get the job done on home court and give themselves every chance to win their first title in 24 years for Game Four.
“I’ve been on Illawarra since the start of the series,
“I just think their depth and I though at the time that having home court advantage would help, but so far, no one’s held serve on their home court but going back to Illawarra, they (Hawks) will take a lot of momentum into that,
“And until we hear more about whether Shea Ili is available, that’s probably going to be Illawarra’s chance to really get that game and be one game away from a championship.”
Game Three will take place on Sunday with Illawarra hosting Melbourne at WIN Sports and Entertainment Centre in Wollongong.
Tip off will take place at 5:30pm AEDT.
