Mitchell: Phoenix "Miles Off" Best

South East Melbourne Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell has issued a warning to the rest of the competition, saying “there’s still a lot of improvement” in his playing group.

Thursday night’s 22-point win over the New Zealand Breakers in Auckland was the first game in which all of the Phoenix’s players have been available this season. Gary Browne returned from a knee injury to make his first NBL appearance, while Zhou Qi and Trey Kell continued to ramp up their returns to play.

“We’ve had two training sessions as a group and one game. We’re still miles off,” Mitchell said.

“Zhou Qi is still nowhere near game fit yet, Trey Kell, whilst he was better tonight – particularly early – he’s still got a little bit of work to do, ‘Creeky’ we’re still managing heavily, and that was Gary’s first game. There’s still a lot of improvement in this group.

“It’s been a battle for us going all the way back to the start of pre-season. Every day there’s seemed to be a new drama for us to try and overcome and it’s just nice to have the boys back.”

The hype around Browne coming into the league was high when the Phoenix announced his signing in the off-season. As a former EuroLeague floor general with extensive international experience, he came to Australia primed to take the league by storm.

Although he was forced to wait for his first appearance in the NBL, he didn’t disappoint when presented the opportunity. He dished out six assists in his first six minutes of court time and finished the game just two points and one dime short of a double-double despite playing limited minutes.

Due to Browne’s availability Kyle Adnam came off the bench for the first time this season to great effect, scoring a game-high 17 points.

He says he’s happy to play whatever role is needed of him.

“I’ve always got to be flexible. Whatever my role is I’ve always got to be able to bring the energy, be the spark plug,” Adnam said.

“I thought Gary did an amazing job, especially just finding guys and doing his thing … credit to Gary tonight, he’s been working really hard on his knee, had a good week and a half of practice and tonight I thought he did an amazing job.”