Illawarra coach Justin Tatum has downplayed his angry exchange with veteran referee Vaughan Mayberry, saying he doesn't want to give the NBL any more ammunition.
The Hawks are 1-0 down in the best-of-five grand final series after losing to Melbourne United 96-88 in Wollongong on Saturday night.
Mayberry wasn't refereeing that game after Tatum blew up at the veteran whistleblower in Illawarra's series-deciding semi-final win over South East Melbourne on Wednesday.
During a heated moment in that game, Tatum had replied to Mayberry: "Nobody's talking to you, Vaughan. You don't like my kind."
Following his team's loss to Melbourne United on Saturday night, Tatum kept his cards close to his chest when asked to expand on what that comment to Mayberry meant.
"I mean, take it as you want. I don't remember the situation and all I worry about is today's game," Tatum said.
When asked if he would have any issues about Mayberry refereeing his team in the future, Tatum replied: "Nah."
He added: "Referees are who they are. There's nothing to be said about them.
"I mean, the thing is, whatever I say about officials, or don't say about officials, the NBL will use it against me.
"Just like they used my quotes from the last game that they fined me for to pump this game up
"So the officials in the NBL don't need to get extra attention. It's all about wins and losses with us."
Tatum was fined $3000 for breaching Basketball Australia's code of conduct and made to apologise after lashing whistleblowers as "incompetent" following a narrow home loss to Melbourne in October.
Meanwhile, Tatum is backing star duo Trey Kell and Tyler Harvey to bounce back hard when the grand final series shifts to Melbourne for game two on Wednesday night.
Kell scored just six points on 3-of-11 shooting in game one, while Harvey was restricted to nine points on 4-of-10 shooting.
"Trey and Tyler are true professionals, I don't need to harp on (their poor display) too much," Tatum said.
"When they are in that locker room and they're disappointed, you can see they're more harder on themselves than anybody else.
"So you just remind them that we still believe, we still trust you."
Kell scored just six points in his team's game two semi-final loss to the Phoenix, but bounced back with a 30-point game in the decider.
Melbourne United coach Dean Vickerman is on guard for a big response from Kell and Harvey.
"They're going to be two guys that want the basketball," Vickerman said.
"Hawks are going to continue to screen aggressively for them, like they did all night tonight.
"We've just got to make it as hard as possible for them."
United looked disjointed in the first half against Illawarra, but they outscored their opponents 53-35 in an inspired second half.
Chris Goulding's 10 points in the final quarter proved critical, and he again looms as a key figure as Melbourne look to go 2-0 up.
