Preview: Brisbane v SE Melbourne (Round 12)

When: 7.30pm (AEDT), Wednesday 21 December 2022

Where: Nissan Arena, Brisbane

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Foxtel; Sky NZ

Who won last time?

SE Melbourne 89 (Creek 31, Williams 11, Adnam 10, Te Rangi 10) d Brisbane 88 (Cadee 21, Johnson 15, Baynes 11, Harrison 11) – Round 4, John Cain Arena, Melbourne

These teams played out a belter in Round 4, Tanner Krebs putting the Bullets within one with 0:16 to play, but for whatever reason Brisbane’s attempts to foul were ignored and SEM escaped with the W. They can largely thank Mitch Creek’s 31-point haul for that, but it was greatly assisted by some sloppy Bullets offence that generated points the other way.

What happened last game?

There was nothing sloppy about SE Melbourne’s clash with Sydney, the Gippsland crowd treated to one of the games of the year as Creek (46 points) and Derrick Walton (45) led them through an unforgettable double-OT romp before the Phoenix prevailed. Brisbane’s performance in the City of Churches was as forgettable as they come, smashed by 31 and leaving their faithful praying Greg Vanderjagt can conjure a Christmas miracle at home.

What’s working?

Andrew White – Nothing is going well for Brisbane at the moment, but if there was some glimmer of hope to come out of the rubble in Adelaide, it was new import White notching 12 points and five rebounds. The former Atlanta Hawk went 3/3 from deep on debut, then 1/2 outside against the 36ers, but also shot 67 per cent at the rim as he showed a number of quality straight-line drives to expose the overplay. The Bullets need all of that and more.

Bench faith – SE Melbourne’s bench men have been up and down this season, but what they haven't lacked is support from their coach, and that got paid back in spades against the Kings. With Gary Browne and Ryan Broekhoff out of action, Zhou Qi was big on the boards, Kyle Adnam created looks, Junior Madut was solid and Owen Foxwell everywhere at both ends. Dare we say it, they even scored 30 bench points. With Qi returning home, the Phoenix will be hoping Dane Pineau can step up against Brisbane’s bigs.  

What needs stopping?

Mitch Creek – The Bullets had no answers in Round 4 as Creek racked up 31 points at 63 per cent inside and 8/8 at the stripe after drawing eight fouls. He hasn’t cooled off, averaging 24.7ppg in 13 games since tip-off that day, only twice shooting below 44 per cent in that stretch, while connecting at above 50 per cent seven times. DJ Mitchell and Matt Johns will get this job, but whether they can do this job without a lot of help is another question.

East-west offence – It seemed with a seven-footer in charge that Aron Baynes might finally get the chance to play himself into form. But after Banga had five shots in the opening five minutes of Vanderjagt’s tenure, things have gone downhill. It took more than five minutes in Adelaide, and a 17-3 deficit, for Aron to get his first low-post touch, which he duly turned into two points with a lefty hook. Sure, ball reversals and dribble hand-offs can be good at shifting the D, but when they’re leading to nothing you’ve just got to throw it to the block.

Who’s matching up?

Aron Baynes v Alan Williams – No one throws it in more than SEM, who do so 65 per cent more than the NBL average. That’s allowed Big Sauce to score 16.5ppg at 54 per cent, but he only had 11 on nine attempts last time against Brisbane. If Baynes can negate him around the rim it allows Brisbane’s D to stay at home on Trey Kell and Co. The challenge is for Kell and Adnam to expose AB’s ball-screen drops defence by sticking their mid-rangers.

Nathan Sobey v Trey Kell – Sobey’s frustrations are clear for all to see, having been a bought-in and passionate Bullet for four years, and his two games since the second coaching change have produced just 18 points on 5/27 shooting. He’s had 15 assists, nine boards and five steals though, and won’t die wondering Wednesday. Defensively he must harass Kell, who will carry a big playmaking role without Gary Browne, and will be looking to continue his vein of form that has delivered 19ppg, 4.7rpg and 2.7apg in his past three outings.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">? <a href="https://twitter.com/trey_kell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@trey_kell</a> gets us going in Traralgon ?<br><br>? <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAU</a> ?? <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/HXp5gxyIlM">pic.twitter.com/HXp5gxyIlM</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1604313574968504320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s saying what?

It’s fair to say the SE Melbourne Phoenix were buzzing after their incredible double-overtime win against the champs in Gippsland on Sunday.

“The environment created the contest which was special. We saw a couple of special performances with Walton Jr and Creek, and then just a coin flip in the end, which way’s it going to go,” coach Simon Mitchell said.

“I thought we endured some real tests, and I thought the strength of character which maybe waned a little bit on Thursday (against Melbourne), I thought we may have failed that test and got a little over-emotional, but today there was a real focus to just be business like.”

That expression, business like, is going to be important in their reschedule game in Brisbane this Wednesday.

Firstly, after all the negativity surrounding the Bullets over the past three weeks, it’s unlikely there will be a partisan atmosphere to match that remarkable afternoon in Traralgon.

Secondly, they are facing a team that has been shown the harsh realities of the business of sport, and who knows whether a wounded beast or a shattered unit will come out of the Brisbane changerooms, especially with Tyler Johnson, Gorjok Gak, Tanner Krebs and Tyrell Harrison sidelined.

It’s a game SE Melbourne can’t afford to drop, however, and after the initial adulation on Sunday afternoon, the reality of their own injury challenges set in.

Ryan Broekhoff, Gary Browne and Zhou Qi definitely won’t be in uniform, while Trey Kell is unlikely to be near full fitness.

“Rowdy was in the showers when I came into the room, I'm not sure what’s happened there, I believe it’s a hip, I initially thought it was a groin with the way he was holding himself but I believe it might be a hip injury,” Mitchell said.

“Gary, that’s a calf, that’s going to be a little while, I don’t think there’s any mystery there, the degree or the level I have no idea, we’ll get the scans done.

“Trey, he got hit in that last (OT) and did that ankle he did previously, so we’ll have to see how that one butters up. He’s a tough kid and he’s rolled that ankle a few times already, I'm surprised there’s still ligaments there for him to roll.”

Phoenix fans will be praying their support crew can reproduce the magic that helped Creek lead his team over the line against Sydney.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">???? ??????? = ???? ? <a href="https://twitter.com/Owenfoxwell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Owenfoxwell</a><br><br>? Very limited tickets remain for our SBC games in Jan: <a href="https://t.co/Kgq4FOkax5">https://t.co/Kgq4FOkax5</a> <a href="https://t.co/sS1HMQKC61">pic.twitter.com/sS1HMQKC61</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1604703139885899776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Hats off to Owen Foxwell, that might be the best game I've seen someone play one-on-one defence and get 40-pieced. If Foxy wasn’t on our team for that game, he would have scored 74,” Creek said.

“Seeing Owen Foxwell take three charges was pretty damn cool, seeing Kyle superman jump for a ball that was already out of court at half-way was pretty funny, they’re the memories I'm going to remember more than scoring some points or getting some rebounds.”

While coach Mitchell isn’t happy with the fixture change, he too is hopeful the character shown by his team will carry through to Wednesday.

“It's tough, and our preparation will be so abhorrent for what these guys need and for what my coaching staff need,” he said.

“We wear it, we’ll push through, we've got some guys who got some great opportunity today and we’ll butter up in Brisbane and give them our best.”

It’s not as tough as what the Bullets are going through, and coach Vanderjagt is trying to ready his team emotionally to do themselves justice on the floor, as they did in Cairns but fell well short of in Adelaide.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DJ with the big don’t argue ?‍??<br><br>?Tune in now on ESPN via Kayo and Foxtel<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RIVERCITYSTRONG?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RIVERCITYSTRONG</a> <a href="https://t.co/qTDj2H1QHu">pic.twitter.com/qTDj2H1QHu</a></p>&mdash; Brisbane Bullets (@BrisbaneBullets) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets/status/1602955999786041344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“I certainly didn’t wake up on Tuesday morning in Brisbane thinking that I’d get off a flight in Cairns and would be head coaching and NBL basketball team, that’s for sure,” Vanderjagt said.

“It hasn’t been an easy week, there’s been a lot of noise, a lot of discussion.

“Like I said post-game in Cairns, my concern is the toll it’s taken on the athletes, particularly the veteran guys because they get brought into those discussions, whether willingly or unwillingly, and it’s a distraction, there’s no doubt about it, it’s distracting and it’s frustrating.

“The sooner that we can get some consistency and the group can get an idea what it’s going to look like moving forward the better it’s going to be for them.

“We've had discussions as a group and everyone says they're feeling ok, but under the surface there’s still some stuff going on there and there’s an emotional toll it’s taken on the players, there’s no doubt about that.”

There’s no doubt with Aron Baynes, Nathan Sobey, Jason Cadee, DJ Mitchell, Harry Froling and Andrew White in the line-up, there is enough talent to challenge SEM in the Bullets’ first game in front of their fans since the second round of upheaval.

“We've got to go back to Brisbane now and face the music,” Vanderjagt said.

“Nobody feels sorry for us, that’s for certain, we can’t feel sorry for ourselves and collectively as a group of men we've got to navigate our way through this and continue to play and compete for each other.”