sport, local-sport,

BASKETBALL The Wollongong Hawks are anxiously awaiting news on the extent of import Jahii Carson's foot injury. Carson limped from the court in the second quarter of Wollongong's 79-60 loss to Perth on Sunday at the NBL Blitz in Brisbane. The 22-year-old guard had scans on Monday and is unlikely to play in the Hawks' two trial games against the Cairns Taipans this weekend in Cairns. "It's in the bottom of his foot. He's seeing the medical staff today and we'll get some sort of idea after that," Wollongong coach Gordie McLeod said. "He was in a little bit of discomfort. If he had to come off the court there's obviously a concern, but until you see the medical staff you can't really make any call." The Hawks were off the pace at the NBL's annual pre-season tournament, copping a 106-81 hiding from Adelaide on Saturday before Sunday's similarly heavy loss to the Wildcats. Tyson Demos led Wollongong with 19 points against the 36ers, Carson had 16 and Gary Ervin added 12. Tim Coenraad tallied a game-high 21 against Perth, while Ervin, Oscar Forman and Dave Gruber had eight apiece. McLeod said it was obvious his side had plenty of room for improvement before they begin the 2014-15 NBL season with an October 10 home game against Townsville. "Of course we've got a lot to do," he said. "We had a pretty tough draw going up against the two grand finalists from last year, but the level of play over the whole weekend was fantastic. It's shaping up as a really exciting season." While the Hawks aren't clicking yet, McLeod is confident it's only a matter of time. "We have to get our four new guys up to speed and learn how to use the different pieces we've got. "The only way you can do that is by spending time together in a practice environment and a game environment. "We were in a situation where we had to make the changes we did and it's always going to take a little while when we're bringing in two new guys [Ervin and Carson] to run our team. It can't just happen overnight. "We've been in a position in the past where we've had that nucleus in the backcourt that knows our system and how we run our system, whereas now we have to get our imports up to speed with that area of our game. "We have to find what our style is going to be and that'll be something that just evolves. It will evolve from what we do on the practice court and what we do in our trial games."

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