Illawarra's 120–110 win over South East Melbourne on Wednesday has given NBL27 fantasy managers a better question than who scored the most: who was actually trusted to make the Hawks' offence work? Kelan Martin poured in 27 off the bench and Milton Doyle hit six threes, but Davo Hickey's 25 minutes might be the most useful number from the opening game of Round 9. He finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and no turnovers. The Hawks' match report also records Illawarra as plus-18 with Hickey on court.
Hickey's appeal isn't simply that he nearly posted a triple-double. His eight assists came without giving the ball away, and his nine boards added a second route to fantasy value when shots weren't falling. That's the kind of all-round involvement worth chasing in a draft league: a guard helping initiate possessions, finish them and clean up misses. With Illawarra winning three of its past four, there's a convincing basketball case for keeping that organising role prominent, especially as the Hawks head to Perth on Saturday.
Martin supplied the fireworks, and his bench designation shouldn't obscure the opportunity. He shot 10-of-16 from the floor and 5-of-7 from three, with 15 of his 27 points coming in the record 43-point second quarter. The Hawks say their reserves scored 66 points in total. That tells fantasy managers something about Justin Tatum's rotation: useful attacking touches aren't restricted to the starting five. Martin's shot volume and the team's willingness to feed him matter more than whether he's introduced at tip-off.
Doyle's response is another signal worth reading properly. After managing three points against Adelaide, he made his first six three-point attempts against the Phoenix and finished with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting. In the NBL's post-game account, he and Martin combined for 11 triples. Tatum's public backing of Doyle is relevant here: the coach hasn't been treating an off night as a reason to abandon a proven creator. For fantasy managers, that's a stronger reason to hold than Wednesday's shooting percentage alone.
Makur Maker offered a different sort of progression. His 16 points came with six rebounds and a career-high five assists, plus eight successful free throws from eight attempts. One of Martin's late threes came after Maker drew extra attention and the ball moved to the open shooter. The passing contribution is important because it gives Maker another way to affect possessions rather than relying entirely on finishes near the rim.
There's a rotation wrinkle, too. Sam Froling came off the bench for nine points and five rebounds in fewer than 16 minutes. His interior finishing helped Illawarra turn an early eight-point deficit into a lead, yet the shorter stint makes him a more complicated immediate fantasy play than the headline win might suggest. Martin, Hickey and Maker all produced contributions that were more clearly tied to the team's main attacking sequences.
For South East Melbourne, D'Shawn Schwartz led the scoring with 22 and eight rebounds, while Nathan Sobey added 19 points and nine assists. The Phoenix still lost their third straight and face Melbourne United on Saturday. That makes their next rotation and defensive response worth monitoring, rather than treating a high-scoring loss as automatic evidence of a settled fantasy pecking order.
Round 9 has eight games still to come after Wednesday's opener. Hickey's multi-category work, Martin's heavy bench scoring and Maker's passing give managers three distinct things to watch when the Hawks visit the Wildcats. The official Hawks fixture list confirms Saturday's trip to Perth; the next test is whether those responsibilities remain central against a different defence. For more on NBL formats and strategy, see the Buckets SuperCoach guide.
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