King: 'We felt sorry for ourselves'

Josh King admits the Phoenix were exposed by United’s physical edge in the rivalry clash.
South East Melbourne Phoenix coach Josh King was frustrated his team were outmuscled by Melbourne United and disappointed they felt sorry for themselves, but insists a new import is not the answer.
The Phoenix began their season in style last Saturday, dismantling the Cairns Taipans by 37 points with relentless full court pressure that set up a 114-point performance.
But they couldn’t carry that momentum into Thursday night’s Throwdown at John Cain Arena, falling by 20 points to their crosstown rivals.
King conceded his side were bullied physically by United, unable to match their toughness or intensity. Moments of resistance quickly crumbled, highlighted by a brutal 22-point run across the third and fourth quarters that left them completely exposed.
“Overall, we thoroughly just got outplayed and out toughed, and they did to us what we would like to do to them,” King said.
“It was like a man’s game and we weren’t ready to play like men tonight. That doesn’t mean we’re not capable, but we weren’t tonight. Even though we fought for a while and there were some good things, it wasn’t sustained.
“It wasn’t good for a long time and they had a lot to do with that, but we kinda just thought we had arrived and we quickly found out we haven’t.”
The Phoenix are still working to replace departed import wing Vrenz Bleijenbergh, but King made it clear his players cannot rely on that move to solve their issues. His main focus is on building greater resilience within the team.
“We’re going to add another player at some point, but that has nothing to do with the lack of physicality we played with tonight,” King said.
“One thing I wasn’t happy with was that I thought we felt sorry for ourselves a lot when things weren’t going our way, and I didn’t see any of that from them.
“I saw a lot of them being together on the floor. It’s early in the season, but that’s the biggest thing we have to get better at as a group and as a team.
“A lot of teams early in a season go through that and hopefully we fix it moving forward.”
