Hickey doubted he was good enough. Now he's an NBL gun

There were times Will Hickey doubted he was good enough to be a professional basketballer, and felt like his coaches had stopped believing in him.

Now, he's two wins away from an NBL championship series.

Hickey bounced from South East Melbourne to Melbourne United as a development player between 2019 and the end of the 2021/22 season.

You could count on one hand the minutes he had on court in most of the nine games he played in those two-and-a-bit years.

Things were a little better when Hickey arrived at a rebuilding Hawks side in 2022, but by that point, he'd gotten the message. He wasn't Chris Goulding or Tyler Harvey.

"After being at the bottom of the pecking order for so long, just naturally you start to doubt your ability because of certain guys playing over you," the 26-year-old guard told AAP.

"You look around the league and there's a guy that you might have been better than, or whatever, and you see they're playing.

"There's a lot of inside noise that internally plays with you and it's like, 'Is it me? Am I not good enough?'."

Hickey is reluctant to point the finger at any of his former coaches: South East Melbourne's Simon Mitchell, Dean Vickerman of United and ex-Hawks boss Jacob Jackomas.

But he does wish they could have given him more of a chance.

"I know that they knew I had the talent, it was just whether or not you could have the belief, the balls to actually throw me out there," he said.

"(It was) my own fault as well. But regardless, I just needed someone that could see what I could do."

That someone walked through the door in late 2023.

When the Hawks sacked Jackomas, they installed relatively unknown former assistant Justin Tatum as head coach, a role he'd only held in American high school programs.

With a commanding voice and a smile always at the ready, Tatum is an easy man to get behind. He also happens to have NBA superstar Jayson for a son.

No one has benefited more than Hickey from Tatum's guidance of the Hawks, who finished the regular season first on the ladder for the first time since their inception in 1979.

"I feel like 'JT' has trust in me. When I go out, I'm going to play hard and return that favour," Hickey said.

"Everything comes down to building a connection with someone and not a facade, a real connection. JT's got a gift for that."

That belief has powered Hickey to the best season of his career.

By the numbers, no player in the league has a greater positive impact on his team than Hickey; the Hawks have outscored their opponents by a combined total of 266 points across the season when the tough-as-nails guard has been on the court.

Hickey, now tied to the Hawks through the 2027/28 season, earned nominations for both sixth man of the year and most improved player at the recent NBL awards.

"Being told you're not good enough to compete at this level for so long, it was a bit of a 'In your face' to a lot of people," Hickey said.

Hickey says he still has work to do, starting with game one of the semi-final series against his former club the Phoenix this Friday night.

But after years waiting for a chance to even play regularly, he's willing to be patient as he finds his best.

"I don't feel like I'm at my peak yet. I've got to play my role but I'm OK with that, just waiting for my opportunities," he said.