Doyle Sparks Jackies, Bullets Fire

By Chris Pike for NBL Media
Photo: Milton Doyle (Credit - Tasmania JackJumpers Media)

The Brisbane Bullets contingent of NBL1 championship winners all brought that form into their pre-season opener against Melbourne United on Thursday night, while Milton Doyle sparked the Tasmania JackJumpers to a tough win over South East Melbourne Phoenix.

Just eight days out from the NBL Blitz getting underway in Darwin, there were two matches on Thursday night, with the JackJumpers and Phoenix battling for a second time this week in Tasmania, while United and the Bullets put on a show in Ballarat.

Devondrick Walker, Jason Cadee, Tanner Krebs, Harry Froling and DJ Mitchell have all won NBL1 championships across the country in recent weeks, and stepped it up for the Bullets in the eventual 105-77 win over United.

It was Milton Doyle who again was the shining light in an eventful evening in Launceston, with the JackJumpers ending up beating the Phoenix 84-80 as they did battle for the second time in three days in the Apple Isle.

Bullets fire early warning
The JackJumpers/Phoenix clash was the first to tip-off on Thursday night at Elphin Sports Centre and it was a tight and physical affair all evening, with both teams ramping up their preparations. 

There was a bit of unexpected drama with 32 seconds left in the first half too with South East Melbourne leading 48-44 and suddenly the fire alarm went off in the building. Everyone had to evacuate as a result for a short delay.

The teams were then back to play out the last 30 seconds, before an at times fiery second half. 

Kyle Adnam was the man who looked likely to lead the Phoenix to the win, but a Milton Doyle bucket with two minutes to go proved pivotal. 

That put Tasmania up by three and ultimately on a broken play and after a couple of offensive rebounds, Fabijan Krslovic found Matt Kenyon under the bucket for the game-winning basket. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/JackJumpers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JackJumpers</a> march their way to a second straight <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> preseason W over <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SEMelbPhoenix</a> with the 84-80 win in Launceston ?<br><br>Milton Doyle lead the Jackies with 17 points, while Wild Kyle Adnam dropped 15 for the Phoenix.<br><br>Game highlights ?? <a href="https://t.co/WUZCsi2MFH">pic.twitter.com/WUZCsi2MFH</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1567832426621050884?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The JackJumpers might have been without frontcourt pair Will Magnay and Jack McVeigh, but there was a lot to like, especially from import pair Milton Doyle and Rashard Kelly. 

Doyle finished the night with 17 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals, while Kelly put up 13 points and five rebounds.

Point guard Josh Magette ran the team smartly with 13 points and six assists while Fabijan Krslovic added 11 points, four rebounds and three assists, and injury replacement guard Isaac White 10 points and three boards.

The result won't be what coach Simon Mitchell takes from the game, but what he did get was a lot to be encouraged by for the Phoenix, even with Mitch Creek and Ryan Broekhoff not suiting up.

Kyle Adnam top-scored with 15 points, with a trio of new imports all boasting strong moments. Trey Kell had nine points and three assists, Alan Williams nine points, four rebounds and three assists, and Gary Browne seven points and four assists.

Junior Madut was especially impressive with nine points and five rebounds in his 18 minutes, with Dane Pineau contributing eight points and eight boards, and Tohi Smith-Milner eight points.

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 84 (Doyle 17, Kelly 13, Magette 13)
SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 80 (Adnam 15, Madut 9, Williams 9, Kell 9) 
BOX SCORE

Photo: Trey Kell guarded by Walter Brown (Credit - Tasmania JackJumpers Media) 

Walker stars in Ballarat
The other game of the night took place at Ballarat's Selkirk Stadium, and with Tanner Krebs, Jason Cadee, Harry Froling, DJ Mitchell and Devondrick Walker all fresh off NBL1 championships, they brought that form with them for the Bullets.

It was Brisbane's latest signing Walker who gave the spark in the first quarter, with 10 quick points in the bench, just days after leading the Rockingham Flames to the NBL1 West titlet.

The Bullets were executing their offence expertly under the stewardship of Jason Cadee and were tearing the United defence to shreds to open up a 32-point lead at one point, on the way to the eventual 105-77 victory.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BrisbaneBullets</a> start their <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> preseason with a BANG, beating <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MelbUnited</a> in Ballarat 105-77 ?<br><br>Fresh import signing Devondrick Walker paced the Bullets with 18 points off the bench, while United&#39;s Rayjon Tucker lead all scorers with 20.<br><br>Game highlights ?? <a href="https://t.co/XKCVm2a46r">pic.twitter.com/XKCVm2a46r</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1567830743497469952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It was a particularly exciting pre-season opener for the Bullets who were without superstar trio Nathan Sobey, Aron Baynes and Tyler Johnson.

However, they clearly benefited from having players who have been playing regularly and at a high level recently with Cadee, Krebs and Mitchell all performing strongly after successful NBL1 campaigns. 

Walker top-scored for the Bullets with 18 points on four-of-nine shooting from downtown, with Froling delivering 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists and Krebs 12 points, four boards, three assists and two steals.

Brisbane also got plenty from others too, with Kody Stattman putting up 11 points, Mitchell nine points and six assists, Rasmus Bach nine points, and Lual Diing eight points and six rebounds.

The scoreline might not flatter United and coach Dean Vickerman would have been frustrated with how they allowed Brisbane to execute their offence, but still eight days out from the Blitz, there were things to like for the reigning regular season champions.

The highlight without question for Melbourne was exciting new import Rayjon Tucker, who finished with 20 points and eight rebounds while being aggressive going to the rack and hitting nine-of-ten at the stripe.

Fellow new import Jordan Caroline was encouraging too, with 13 points and three rebounds, while returning Next Star Ariel Hukporti had 11 points and six boards.

Xavier Rathan-Mayes had his moments too running the point in the absence of Shea Ili with eight points and four assists, with captain Chris Goulding hitting a pair of triples for eight points.

United and the Bullets will take on one another again on Saturday night at Casey Stadium, while the JackJumpers and Phoenix now turn their attention to the Blitz in Darwin starting next Friday.

MELBOURNE UNITED 77 (Tucker 20, Caroline 13, Hukporti 11)
BRISBANE BULLETS 105 (Walker 18, Froling 17, Krebs 12) 
BOX SCORE

Photo: Rayjon Tucker gets to the rim (Credit - Melbourne United Media)