Preview: SE Melbourne v Adelaide (Round 5)

Sunday, October 30, 2022

SE Melbourne are surging with three wins on the trot, while Adelaide will be looking for their second straight road W after firing blanks at home on Friday.

When: 4pm (AEDT), Sunday 30 October
Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne
Broadcast: 10 Peach; 10 Play; ESPN; Foxtel; Kayo; Sky NZ

Who won the last time?

South East Melbourne 94 (Gliddon 24, Ashley 14, Munford 14) d Adelaide 91 (Dech 20, Hannahs 18, Johnson 18) – Round 21, NBL22 at John Cain Arena

Trailing by 17 in the shadows of three-quarter-time, South East Melbourne needed the bizzo so they turned to Glizzo, Cam Gliddon scoring 17 points in the final 11 minutes, including five trifectas. He tied the game away with two minutes to play, then Izayah Le'afa connected from distance with a tough step back, before coolly icing the game from the foul line.

What happened last game?

It was another heart-stopper for Phoenix fans out west, and for the third-straight time Simon Mitchell’s men tamed the Jungle, scoring crucial baskets inside late in the game to seal a classic W. There was nothing memorable about Adelaide’s home performance against the Breakers, bullied by their physical defence and incapable of initiating the offence in an effort that posed questions about the mental toughness of this new Adelaide line-up.

What’s working?

Sharing is caring – Every team wants to ‘share the ball’, but it was match-winning for the Phoenix in Perth. In 14 second-half possessions where their shot came off the pass, South East Melbourne scored 26 points at 69 per cent. In 17 possessions where the shot came off the dribble, that dipped to 18 points at 40 per cent. Adelaide’s ability to handle multiple ball-screens without giving Gary Browne, Kyle Adnam and Mitch Creek passing targets is key.

Finding Kai – One positive from Friday night was the performance of Kai Sotto, who added 16 points at 54 per cent and seven boards in 14 minutes and showed much-improved application to defence. What’s puzzling is the 36ers’ inability to utilise the 7’3 athlete as a lob threat, given last season he showed his ability to finish them with style. Can the 36ers utilise the Filipino flyer to exploit Alan Williams’ ball watching when defending on-balls?

What needs stopping?

Dropping the lip – Both Mitch McCarron and Antonius Cleveland got mad and got even with tough defensive plays on Friday, but they didn’t have enough mates. Twice so far at home, the 36ers have been manhandled by the NBL’s most physical teams in Tasmania and New Zealand, and in both they’ve raised the white flag, being outscored a combined 99-67 in the second halves. They’ve had 19 turnovers to just 14 assists in those 40 minutes of basketball.

Phoenix forwards – The 36ers better be ready to defend on Sunday, with the dynamic duo of Ryan Broekhoff and Mitch Creek approaching full flight. The Phoenix have a 62 per cent winning percentage with both in the line-up, and on Friday they combined for 40 points at 67 per cent, 6/11 from deep and were top two in plus-minus for South East Melbourne. How will Adelaide defend Creek rolling out of on-balls to set pin-downs for Rowdy’s catch-and shoot treys?

Who’s matching up?

Mitch Creek v Robert Franks – Robo is likely to be Creek’s match-up, and in their last battle the free-wheeling American had 23 points on 5/9 triples, eight rebounds and five dimes for Brisbane. The 36ers haven’t gotten the best out of him yet, however, shooting just 4/19 from the arc and only grabbing 4.8rpg in almost 30 minutes. Like Daniel Johnson last season, Adelaide could utilise Franks’ pick-and-pop game more to open up driving lanes, but he needs to impose himself on the game, and that starts with rebounding.

Trey Kell v Craig Randall – Straight out of the G-League, Randall has been all about volume, while Kell, straight out of top European competition, has been all about efficiency. He’s taken just 9.5 shots per game as he finds his touch, instead dishing 12 assists to only three turnovers in four Ws. Randall has also dealt 12 dimes but coughed it up 17 times, meaning his contribution when not making shots can be a negative. Having gotten to the foul line just nine times for the season, can he adapt to opponents running him off the arc?

Gary Browne v Antonius Cleveland – Last season, Jaylen Adams shot above 40 per cent in just three of his first 10 games, but so creative was his playmaking it was always going to click. Browne may be the same, hitting at just 27 per cent so far and 2/15 from deep, but dealing 28 dimes to 10 turnovers in three games to transform the Phoenix offence. Teams will make him prove he can shoot though, and that will start with Cleveland, who will back in his length so his Sixers teammates can stay at home on the South East Melbourne shooters.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">YOINK!<br>- Antonius Cleveland (probably).<br><br>? - ESPN + Kayo Sports <a href="https://t.co/BuOFdwlg86">pic.twitter.com/BuOFdwlg86</a></p>— Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1585923639102574592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s saying what?

It's already been a testing season for clubs all around the NBL when it comes to bouncing back.

Melbourne have been thrashed twice by the Kings, Illawarra twice got battered by Brisbane, the JackJumpers were clobbered by Cairns, who were then pantsed by Perth, who themselves got trolleyed in Tassie.

The Phoenix got a hammering from the Hawks, but then neutered New Zealand, who have bounced back and sautéed the Sixers on Friday night.

Every team bar Sydney has been blown out of the gym at one point or another in the opening five rounds, and now it’s Adelaide’s turn to seek quick redemption.

“There’s a handful of games where you don’t play well and everyone is searching and looking … you have a game and you lose like that but we have another game coming up,” coach CJ Bruton said.

“It's about flipping the script and understanding what do we need to get better at so that we can play against Phoenix.”

There are certain things that Bruton will put front of mind from his side’s insipid home performance on Friday to ensure there isn’t a repeat in Melbourne.

“There’s certain things, valuing the basketball sticks out, boxing out sticks out. Transition, playing the Phoenix, they play fast,” he said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Back ?? Back ?'s from Browne and Broekhoff, bringing us back in it ?<br><br>? <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> ?? <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/Foxtel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Foxtel</a> <a href="https://t.co/eGOkoLaU2S">pic.twitter.com/eGOkoLaU2S</a></p>— South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1585960942801948672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The other thing to take from Friday’s game was the performance of Adelaide’s bench, who scored 23 points after averaging a league-low 13.3ppg in their first three outings, with Kai Sotto the standout.

“We’re a deep team and a talented team, we put in the work daily at practice and when your number is called you have to be ready,” Sunday Dech said.

“We've got the team to do it on any given night. I think Kai did a fantastic job tonight coming in in limited minutes and impacting the game.”

Adelaide’s reserves played 79 of the 200 minutes against NZ, and that rest for their starters could be important given the 40-hour turnaround.

The Phoenix have an even shorter break, longer travel and greater fatigue after they played out a classic in Perth.

However, coach Simon Mitchell laughed that the foul trouble which dogged Mitch Creek and Ryan Broekhoff might end up being a blessing in disguise.

“We kept (Creek) under 30, well we didn’t keep him under 30, he was kept under 30, which is in our favour for the Adelaide game,” Mitchell said.

“We’re trying to reduce his minutes this year, because he’s so bloody good and his coach wants to keep him out there all the time.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Creeky starting us off nicely ?<br><br>? <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> ?? <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/Foxtel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Foxtel</a> <a href="https://t.co/6MPfkXDecC">pic.twitter.com/6MPfkXDecC</a></p>— South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1585944680126361601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“It’s good he kept his down, Rowdy had a ‘rest’ in the first half, Gary’s going to be someone we’ve got to look after and Trey, he’s played 30 minutes tonight.”

Reuben Te Rangi (18:24), Kyle Adnam (16:35), Dane Pineau (10:01) and Junior Madut (5:24) all contributed in limited minutes on Friday, and Ryan Broekhoff has confidence in his bench crew can step up again.

“I thought we had some really good contributors throughout the night,” he said.

“When I was out in the first half Reuben Te Rangi stepped up and had some big minutes, a couple of buckets, six rebounds pretty quickly.

“Dane Pineau (was good) in the second half, we have guys that can step up and we know what we’re going to get from them.”

Mitchell was a happy man in Perth, proclaiming “we've won three in a row, there’s certainly progress”.

No one except the Breakers were happy in Adelaide, but Dech is confident there is still plenty of progress to be made for his 2-2 side.

“We’re good,” he said.

“It’s our fourth game, we've got a lot more games to play and it’s early days. Obviously it’s a bump in the road and obviously we wanted to play better at home and in front of our fans, but it’s the beauty of the NBL, the games come quick and we’ve got to turn our focus.”