One week you look at it and think it's working a treat. The next week you realise there's still a lot of rough edges to iron out.

New coach Rob Beveridge has shaken things up with a run-and-gun style of play. It's worked well on occasions but also fallen flat a few times, especially in two home losses to Perth where his team looked unable to close out victory despite holding handy fourth-quarter leads.

After the second of those two collapses against the Wildcats, he used the coach's "break glass in case of emergency" tactic and called out his players.

There's nothing a player wants to hear less than being labelled soft but that's exactly what Beveridge did after the 99-96 failure against Perth in which they gave up 31 points in the final term. "We do so much at practice and talk about what we need to do but when it really really comes to the crunch our guys are mentally soft ... We can't afford to keep choking down the stretch."

The shift in focus this season to a more offence-oriented game is unlike Beveridge's successful outfits from his previous NBL coaching stint in Perth.

It's also foreign to the Hawks. This is a blue-collar club which has always hung its hard hat on a defensive mindset. Its most successful era of playoff runs, including the 2001 championship, was anchored by relentless defence from the likes of club stalwarts Glen Saville and Mat Campbell.

Beveridge, who has taken on the unenviable task of replacing local legend Gordie McLeod after he didn't see eye to eye with majority owner James Spenceley - won't deviate from his plan of attack.

Spenceley's business philosophy is "no muppets" in the office and for staff to be "just a little bit crazy". Beveridge seems to be duplicating that with the Hawks.

The coach's system is one reminiscent of NBA coach Stan van Gundy's scheme which brought him unexpected playoff surges in Orlando and looks set to be in the early stages of repeating in Detroit. That is, get a skilful big man who can dominate in the paint at both ends - AJ Ogilvy playing the Dwight Howard/Andre Drummond role - and surround him with marksmen.

Beveridge seems to have also added a dash of the Mike D'Antoni "seven seconds or less" offence which delivered many wins to Phoenix when Steve Nash was at his peak. He has been quite open in stating he wants his team to play entertaining basketball, shooting without second-guessing. Saying he wants his players putting up 20 attempts per quarter.

Kevin Lisch, Kirk Penney, Tim Coenraad and Oscar Forman are top-quality shooters but have varying levels of defensive capabilities and opposition teams are scoring more on Illawarra (89.4) than any other team.

With the referees allowing offences more room to operate in recent seasons, Beveridge should be on the right tack with his philosophy if the defence can reach mid-table respectability. But it will take time to get right. 

Ogilvy was in a moonboot after the loss to the Wildcats. The team's chances hinge on his health more than any other player.

Long term, the Hawks are rebuilding - on and off the court - while trying to achieve not-so-much instant success but a quick return to the playoffs after last season's 6-22 wooden spoon disaster.

Just like the new-look NBL, this club's fortunes won't be turned around overnight - the commitment is there, the expertise in place and there is optimism for the future, but there are no guarantees in sport and Hawks fans are eager to see consistency.

With a 4-5 record the Hawks are hardly in dire straits. This Saturday they travel to Adelaide to face the 36ers, a side that has been equally as infuriating for NBL tipsters this season and is the second-worst defensively (conceding 86.4 per game). Who'll win? Nobody, even those deep inside each camp, could say with any certainty.

Players usually respond well, at least in the short term, when the coach delivers a spray of last week's epic proportions in Wollongong. But coaches can't keep going back to that well. If the Hawks don't develop a tough exterior, then their veteran roster will need to be overhauled.