Illawarra Hawks coach Justin Tatum referred to BA integrity unit after referee attack, race rant
While Illawarra’s American coach Justin Tatum awaits Basketball Australia’s verdict on his withering attack on the NBL’s referees, his South East Melbourne stand-in rival Sam Mackinnon has gone in to bat for homegrown NBL mentors.
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While Illawarra’s American coach Justin Tatum awaits Basketball Australia’s verdict on his withering attack on the NBL’s referees, his South East Melbourne stand-in rival Sam Mackinnon has gone in to bat for homegrown NBL mentors.
Following the Hawks’ Saturday night 88-82 win over the Phoenix, Tatum said he was “not worried” about the BA integrity unit investigation, after he slammed the referees’ as “incompetent”.
Code Sports understands Tatum, who made the comments after a controversial loss to Melbourne United on Thursday night, is facing a fine, with a decision expected as soon as Sunday — not that he’s keeping track.
“You’ll know before I do, I (don’t) have the slightest idea,” he said, when asked when a verdict was expected.
“Good luck to you and I hope you enjoy whatever ruling they come out with. It is what it is.”
Meanwhile, as he prepares to revert back to assistant under the Phoenix’s new American appointee Josh King, Mackinnon, who went 2-1 in three games at the helm in the wake of Mike Kelly’s October 13 axing, said NBL clubs needed to look in their “own backyard”.
Six of the 10 NBL teams are helmed by imported coaches.
“I have felt that there’s a lot of good Australian coaches and New Zealand coaches and the trend is to get international coaches in and that’s fine, but look in your own backyard,” Mackinnon said.
“We’ve got lots of experience in the NBL. If it’s me, if it’s someone else, whoever it is, don’t discount us, we’re well prepared, we’ve got knowledge of the game.”
Mackinnon, 48, admitted he’d wrestled with a situation where he was promoted to caretaker, but told early on in the piece he would not be the man moving forward.
He said he chose to stay positive, determined to add more gravity to his head coaching ambitions.
“It’s like a referee’s call. I got the bad call two days in but I can’t change the call, so I’ve got to just stay positive with the group and try get them on the right pathway,” Mackinnon said.
“For me, personally, I’d done all I can in three games to get us playing the right way.
“If other club’s see that I’ve got a bit of a good CV or I’m a potential head coach, who knows, it’s out of my control.”
Import Joe Wieskamp spoke glowingly of Mackinnon, post-game, with King set to take over Sunday.
“I think Sam has done a great job and, head coach or not, we have a lot of confidence in him (and) we’re going to continue to look to him as a leader,” Wieskamp said.
“It’s going to be a great dynamic with Josh coming in but also leaning on Sam because he’s someone we can all look up to.”
Mackinnon, a two-time NBL champion and former league MVP, said he’d done his best to put his stamp on the group but was prepared to make way for King and continue as an assistant at the Phoenix.
“(I had) three games to impact the group in a positive way and that’s all I tried to do — cuddle them, kiss them, kick them in the arse,” he said.
“I thought they played the right way.
“Josh has got a great group moving forward and I’ll do my best to support him.”
WHY TATUM IS UNDER INVESTIGATION
Basketball Australia’s integrity unit is investigating Illawarra coach Justin Tatum’s withering referee attack after a wild night in Wollongong.
Following the Hawks 92-87 loss to Melbourne United, 201cm Tatum slammed the referees as “incompetent” and claimed they “made an example” of him because “I’m intimidating, I guess my voice too deep, I’m too tall, My skin colour is different.”
BA, late on Friday, confirmed it was investigating Tatum for “a potential breach of the Code of Conduct for Elite Participants”.
The Hawks have been notified of the investigation and the club says it is cooperating with BA but would not comment further.
Tatum’s comments were sparked by a controversial — and farcical — late-game incident, where the American was slapped with a game-altering technical foul and United star Chris Goulding’s tendency to exaggerate contact was put on blast for a second straight game.
Goulding appeared to tweak an ankle as he fell to the floor and clutched at his foot, following some slight contact from Hawks’ tyro Will Hickey, who was assessed with a foul.
Tatum was incensed and the WIN Entertainment Centre crowd broke into a “Flop” chant.
After minutes of confusion, the entire play was rescinded when it was discovered the clock failed to start due to a technical issue that caused it to malfunction.
As tensions flared, the referees were eventually notified of the issue and cancelled the previous sequence, beginning again with a replay.
Crazy scenes last night. I’m my 20 years going to the game I never recall something like this #nbl25pic.twitter.com/1jMszLPfpO
— ashley (@ashboyle_) October 25, 2024
It didn’t stop the referees from sanctioning Tatum, though, which allowed United to extend their lead to two possessions with 22.1 seconds left.
The NBL has reviewed that technical foul and backed the referees’ decision.
Tatum’s post-game press conference dripped with sarcasm and simmered with frustration.
“We’re just happy that Chris Goulding didn’t hurt himself flopping in front of us,” Tatum said.
“So I’m glad that he’s injury free but, at the end of the day, the officials, at that time, unfortunately, just made a bad decision, bad call.
“Emotions was going high at that time, because everybody in the gym thought there was a call at that time.
“Once they (referees) took the time to know the clock wasn’t going, emotions digressed, because we felt that we had a chance, we were down three.
“But unfortunately, we have another official who decides to want to give somebody a technical foul on emotions of the call — wasn’t disrespected as an official but … comes back a minute or two to later and gives it to us, not right then and there.
“These guys (players) get paid a lot of money. The fans pay to come in here. They want to see the players, not some incompetent referees that … (allow) their feelings at that time to dictate the game.”
Goulding, on his 36th birthday, tore the Hawks apart with 25 points on five three-pointers as the crowd booed every time he touched the ball.
ESPN reported Hawks’ owner Jared Novelly stormed out of the stadium branding Goulding a flopper, days after South East Melbourne owner Romie Chaudhari hitout at the bronzed Boomer, saying he “constantly flops and cries about it, that sh*t is weak” — a comment United coach Dean Vickerman said his squad would use as fuel next time the two rivals met.
Guess I'm not the only one who feels this way about that dude at @MelbUnited.... What does Coach Vickerman have to say now? He said he won't forget what I said, now he has to remember what these guys said, too.... He got a lot on his mind, I guess 😂😂 https://t.co/s1XhD04idB
— Romie Chaudhari (@RRome44) October 24, 2024
Chaudhari seized on the Goulding pile-on Friday morning, hitting out at Vickerman in a tweet.
“Guess I’m not the only one who feels this way about that dude at @MelbUnited .... What does coach Vickerman have to say now? He said he won’t forget what I said, now he has to remember what these guys said, too.... He got a lot on his mind, I guess.”
Asked about the discourse around Goulding, post-game, Vickerman shrugged it off, focusing on his star’s big performance in front of a hostile crowd.
“I’m not going to talk about it too much, I thought he turned an ankle a little bit,” Vickerman said.
“There was some contact, there was some things there, but he had a hell of a game.
“He was huge for us today, the way he wanted the basketball in big moments, the shots he wanted to take, and that’s the Chris Goulding that I want to talk about.
“Birthday today, so one to celebrate for him.
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