The Hawks opened their NBL pre-season campaign with a 99-81 loss against the Adelaide 36ers at a sold-out Tuggeranong Basketball Stadium on Friday night.

With the Hawks desperate to make inroads in the capital as they consider bringing regular season matches to Canberra as early as this year, the venue could not have been more fitting.

The Canberra Cannons played their final three home games at the small Tuggeranong venue in 2003 before the club went bust to leave a gaping hole in the ACT basketball scene. A fan wearing a Cannons jersey in the front row suggests it is a hole people are still desperate to see filled, this time by the Hawks.

The Cannons finished as perennial battlers, apt given the situation facing Canberra product Beveridge and the Hawks this season.

The Hawks have a chip on their shoulder following a forced off-season upheaval. Their hottest talents were snapped up by rivals with bigger budgets and just three players survive from last season's roster.

Beveridge was forced to rebuild his team from scratch, signing veterans, imports and emerging stars all with a point to prove. If they needed any more frustration to compound what Beveridge dubs a "s**t" year, their first pre-season game was cancelled, making the Canberra clash their first hitout as a unit.

The Hawks took a one-point advantage into the first break before Adelaide clawed their way in front and stayed in the ascendancy for the remainder of the contest against an Illawarra outfit sans AJ Ogilvy.

As impressive as former league most valuable player winners in Cedric Jackson and Brian Conklin (16 points) were, and as memorable as the flashes of brilliance from dreadlocked recruit Jordair Jett (16 points) and David Andersen (16 points) were, they weren't enough to stop the 36ers.

But this is a rebuilt squad, and Beveridge knows he will need some time for the cement to set.

He'll just be hoping it can be sped up when the Hawks back up against Andrew Bogut's Sydney Kings at the Wollongong Entertainment Centre on Sunday.