Hawke's Bay Hawks

1982–1992: Early years

After winning the Conference Basketball League (CBL) Invitational Championship in 1982, the Napier Sunhawks were promoted to the National Basketball League (NBL) for the 1983 season. They qualified for the playoffs in their first NBL season, but finished second last in 1984, and last in 1985. The team was renamed the Hawke's Bay Hawks for the 1986 season but continued to struggle in the years to come, as they had trouble attracting star players and quality imports, mainly because of the appeal of the city-based sides such as Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington. They did manage to recruit Jamie Dixon as an overseas player in the late 1980s.^[1]

1993–1997: Playoff streak

After not making the playoffs in nine straight seasons, the Hawks broke their hoodoo in 1993 as they made the semi-finals. The following season, the Hawks continued their good form, finishing third for the second straight year. It was then in 1995 that the Hawks got their first taste of the NBL finals before losing to the dominant Auckland Rebels. It was a huge transformation from a team struggling to keep their place in the league to a team who were genuine title contenders. Over the next two years under coach Keith Mair,^[2] the Hawks continued their playoff streak but lost comprehensively both times.

1998–2004

The Hawks began a slow decline from the heights of the previous five years in 1998, as the side finished second last. This finish demoted them to the CBL, where they spent the 1999 season. However, after finishing as CBL runners-up in 1999, they were readmitted to the NBL in 2000, but finished last again. After finishing second last in both 2001 and 2002, the team had to rethink and retool.^[3] They fared slightly better in 2003, finishing sixth with an 8–10 record.^[4] In 2004, with the likes of Australian Scott McGregor and local heroes Adrian Majstrovich, Paora Winitana, Paul Henare and Aidan Daly, the Hawks began to re-earn their status as title contenders. 2004 saw them lose after a second-place regular-season finish in the semi-final to the Nelson Giants, 69–51. Majstrovich was named the competition's Most Valuable Player, while CEO Jeremy Bayliss was named administrator of the year.

2005–2007: Three trips to the grand final

2005 saw the Hawks add naturalised Kiwi Willie Burton (who came out of retirement)^[5] and Australian NBL player Dusty Rychart, but again finished in second place and eventually lost in a dramatic grand final to the Auckland Stars, 69–68. CEO Jeremy Bayliss was once again named administrator of the year, while Paul Henare won another assists title and earned All-Star Five honours.^[6]

In 2006, the Hawks won their first ever NBL Championship with a resounding 84–69 win over the Auckland Stars in the grand final. The win marked Willie Burton's first NBL Championship after 21 years playing in the league. It was also Burton's last game in the New Zealand NBL.^[5] The Hawks' season saw them dominate the awards night with Paora Winitana picking up the Most Valuable Player, Most Valuable Guard, and Most Valuable Kiwi Guard, was a member of the All-Star Five, and was named Final MVP.^[7]

The 2007 season was another successful one as the team made the grand final for the third straight year before losing the best-of-three series 2–0 to the Nelson Giants.

2008–2014: Playoff losses to Wellington

After a quarter-final loss to the Nelson Giants in 2008, the Hawks faced the Wellington Saints in the playoffs every year between 2009 and 2014 (except 2013 when the Hawks missed the playoffs) and were defeated by them every time. 2011 saw the Hawks reach the grand final,^[8] 2012 saw them finish as minor premiers for the first time in their history, and 2014 saw them finish as minor premiers and make another grand final appearance.^[9]

2015–2017

Despite the addition of quality import big-man duo Suleiman Braimoh and Zack Atkinson for the 2015 season, the Hawks finished the regular season with a 6–12 record and missed out on a playoff spot. In addition, former Nelson Giants head coach Liam Flynn took over the head coaching duties for the 2015 season from Tab Baldwin who left to coach in the Philippines.^[10] However, after starting the season with a 4–8 record, the Hawks released Flynn from his head coaching duties and replaced him with co-captain and long-time Hawk Paora Winitana.^[11]

On 8 December 2015, former Hawks assistant coach Kirstin Daly-Taylor was named the team's head coach for the next five years, becoming one of the rare women to take control of a men's team at a domestic level.^[12] The following week, the Hawks signed two Guamanian players for the 2016 season – Joe Blas and Will Stinnett.^[13][14][15] Things did not get better for the Hawks in 2016, as they went 0–6 to start the season and suffered their biggest loss in team history during that stretch, losing by 43 points to the Wellington Saints on 8 April.^[16] To make matters worse, the team lost import Chris Porter to a hamstring injury after just four games.^[17] The Hawks' stumbled through the regular season and were outmatched by every opponent they faced. In their season finale against the Saints, they were thumped by 48 points, a margin that surpassed their previous heaviest defeat of 43 points also against the Saints earlier in the year.^[18] The Hawks concluded the season without a win (0–18). The 2016 Hawks side joined the 1998 Northland Suns, 2009 Taranaki Mountainairs, 2010 Otago Nuggets and 2015 Taranaki Mountainairs as the only sides in NBL history to go an entire season without a win.^[19]

In September 2016, the Hawks' signed two favourite sons for the 2017 season, Jarrod Kenny and Everard Bartlett.^[20] Kenny last played for the Hawks in 2015, while Bartlett returned after a two-year stint away from the Hawks.^[21] Much like in 2016, the Hawks started the 2017 season with a 0–4 record and had an early import change with the release of forward Lamar Roberson after just three games. The Hawks entered Round 4 with new import and defensive specialist Amir Williams, a 2.11-metre-tall centre out of Ohio State, who joined Grant Fiorentinos of British-Greek extraction.^[22] On 9 April 2017, in their fifth game of the season, the Hawks ended a 24-match losing streak with an 81–63 win over the Nelson Giants at Pettigrew Green Arena.^[23] However, less than three weeks later, coach Kirstin Daly-Taylor resigned after a "panic attack" following the team's Anzac Day loss to the Canterbury Rams in Napier. Now at 1–6, Daly-Taylor abruptly ended her five-year term amid allegations she had lost the respect of some players. Former Tall Black Ben Hill was named the interim coach for the remainder of the season.^[24] The Hawks collected two quick wins under Hill, but on 19 May, Fiorentinos was released in favour of recalling trusted veteran American Kareem Johnson. Hill said Johnson, a father of three living in the Bay with his partner and seeking New Zealand residency, seemed to be the logical replacement due to being familiar with the Hawks after many stints with the franchise over the years.^[25][26] The Hawks finished the season outside the top four for the third straight year with a 4–14 record.

Current roster

Hawke's Bay Hawks roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. G 7000300000000000000♠3 Fee, Nick 7000185000000000000♠1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) G 7000500000000000000♠5 Bartlett, Everard (C) 7000193000000000000♠1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) G 7000600000000000000♠6 Kenny, Jarrod (C) 7000188000000000000♠1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) G/F 7001120000000000000♠12 Rusbatch, Ethan 7000196000000000000♠1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) G/F 7001130000000000000♠13 Prewster, Dion 7000195000000000000♠1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) G 7001190000000000000♠19 McGovan, Dominic 7000191000000000000♠1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) C 7001210000000000000♠21 Brandt, Angus (I) 7000208000000000000♠2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) F 7001220000000000000♠22 Harris, Hyrum 7000198000000000000♠1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 7001330000000000000♠33 Edwards, Caleb F 7001350000000000000♠35 Newton, Mitchell 7000198000000000000♠1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) C 7001420000000000000♠42 Johnson, Kareem 7000202999999999999♠2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) F 7001440000000000000♠44 Skeen, Jamie (I) 7000202999999999999♠2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) F 7001550000000000000♠55 MacFarlane, Jaxson 7000196000000000000♠1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 7001650000000000000♠65 Fitzgerald, Reuben Joyce, Nikau G Mani, Ravi 7000186000000000000♠1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Wilkie, Peter	Head coach Zico Coronel Assistant coach(es) Morgan Maskell Kaine Hokianga Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: 18 May 2018

Notable past players