Creek, Mitchell re-sign with Phoenix

Mitch Creek and Simon Mitchell will both return to the South East Melbourne Phoenix next season.

Creek has re-signed for three years while Mitchell has signed on for one.

After making the finals in year two, the Phoenix endured a disappointing season in NBL22, but Creek and Mitchell are more motivated than ever to return to the top four.

"There were a lot of rumours going that I was signing at other clubs, but I came out and shut that down and said if I was going to be in the NBL, I was going to be at the Phoenix," Creek said.

"You always want to look at where you come from and where you are as a player; I didn't want to be one of those guys who bounced around from club to club. I want to show loyalty where it's shown to me. Tommy and the club have been amazing, so more than happy to stay here and see what we can do."

After a disappointing year, Mitchell was keen to come back and make amends.

“It’s always about the grand picture of this franchise moving forward,” Mitchell said.

"We had a great start to the season, but it didn’t end the way we would have liked.

“We’ve got to this point, we’ve done a review of the season now, where it worked, where it didn’t and where we need to make improvements."

Phoenix CEO Tommy Greer said he believed Mitchell was the right man to lead the Phoenix back to the finals.

"Simon is one of the hardest working coaches in the NBL, his peers respect him, and the players love playing for him," Greer said.

"As a club, we believe continuity is important, and Simon is the right man to lead the team into NBL23."

Phoenix star Ryan Broekhoff and captain Kyle Adnam supported Mitchell's re-signing.

"It's great news to hear coach Mitchell has re-signed. Having continuity will help us improve and build upon the last few seasons," Broekhoff said.

"It's fantastic to have Simon back leading the charge again. Continuing to build on the last few seasons is important and a big piece of achieving our goals as a group," Adnam said.

Earlier this month, Creek told the Herald Sun: "We communicate openly, discuss ourselves, our families, teammates, staff, we're very honest with each other. I like what he's doing. He's not perfect, but no coach is. I have full belief that he can do what's necessary for us to be successful."

He added to that support by expressing his desire to win an NBL championship with Mitchell at the helm.

"I'm excited to get back to work with Simon as head coach. When we both came to the club, we said we wanted to win a championship together, which hasn't changed," Creek said.