HE guided Illawarra to an NBL grand final series, but the Wagga Heat are hopeful some tips from Rob Beveridge will help them dismantle the Hawks for the second time this year.
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Although their Waratah League finals hopes are long gone, the Heat (4-12) managed to upset the third-placed Hawks 78-66 at Wagga in May.
Illawarra (12-4) is certain to be keen for retribution as they look to nail down a finals spot. But Heat skipper Zac Maloney said Beveridge's tutelage should tighten their defence after he took over Tuesday's training session before he held a junior clinic the next day.
"He really broke down our defence," Maloney said.
"We probably only got about four or five shots up each, he took us back to scratch with our defence which is exactly what our team needs.
"We can do a good job of scoring the ball, but you can't win games without defence.
"We've got a lot of young guys who are pretty fresh to the game and when Bisho (coach Matt Bishop) has come in, he hasn't had the time to go into the detail Rob did.
"He touched on denials of the ball, positioning, help lines, proper coast defence and also helped us with a press.
"It was little things about defence the guys wouldn't know that was a real eye opener.
The Wagga's Blaze's final game of the regular season against Goulburn Bears at Bolton Park, originally scheduled for Saturday, has been deferred to Sunday, August 4.
The Hawks clash is the Heat's final road game before they finish their campaign at home against the Dubbo Rams next Saturday night.
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