Preview: SE Melbourne v Brisbane

When: 5.30pm (AEDT), Saturday 22 October
Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne
Broadcast: ESPN; Foxtel; Kayo; Sky NZ
Live scores and stats

Who won the last time?

SE Melbourne 98 (Gliddon 20, Broekhoff 18, Creek 15, Munford 15) d Brisbane 94 (Patterson 27, Franks 23, Drmic 11) – Round 12, NBL22 at John Cain Arena

Cam Gliddon blew this game open, his four trifectas in 150 seconds fuelling a 39-24 South East Melbourne run bridging quarter-time. From there the Phoenix had to withstand constant challenges from Brisbane, who drew level twice and within a basket nine times but couldn’t get over the hump despite a combined 50 points at 57 per cent from Lamar Patterson and Robert Franks.

What happened last game?

It was a similar story for the Bullets against Sydney last round, giving up a horror 66-35 run from the first to the third term. There was no coming back in this one though, their defence incapable of building the pressure needed for a run. The Phoenix were outstanding at both ends of the floor in Auckland, shooting a ridiculous 62 per cent while conceding only 38 per cent. With their full line-up on the floor, SE Melbourne suddenly looked deep and talented.

What’s working?

Spacing – Simon Mitchell inserted Gary Browne and Trey Kell into the starting five, spaced the floor expertly and let his team go to work en route to 58 first-half points on 11 assists from the import duo. Kyle Adnam scored seven as the ball-handler, Alan Williams six as the roll-man, Zhou Qi six from the dunker spot, Mitch Creek four from the post, Kell four on back cuts, while the Phoenix also banged in four triples from spot-up options.

Opposition offences – Brisbane’s D is giving up league highs in points (94.8), field-goal percentage (48%) and assists (20.8), while forcing a league-low 10.8 turnovers. This is the second season coach James Duncan has preached a culture shift towards being a defence-first team, but the Bullets once again failed to recruit a high-level defender in the backcourt or a mobile big in the Nick Kay or Xavier Cooks moulds to anchor their pick-and-roll D.

What needs stopping?

Letting the offence impact the D – Brisbane’s record is 1-6 in quarters where they’ve scored below 20 points. In those six losing periods they’ve gone -55 while given up and average of 23.8 points, compared to +10 across their other 10 quarters of NBL23, where their record is 5-4 and a draw. If the Bullets want to build a tough defensive culture, they must execute at that end of the floor whether their own shots are dropping or not.

Overplaying Gary & Co – Simon Mitchell’s crew have done well managing their returning troops, with Zhou Qi (12:20), Ryan Broekhoff (19:09), Trey Kell (20:34) and Gary Browne (23:56) not asked to do too much first game back. Their performance in New Zealand suggests South East Melbourne can be a title contender with all hands on deck, so smart minutes are a must given the short turnaround and significant travel, even if the temptation is to ride them to another W.

Who’s matching up?

Gary Browne v Jason Cadee – Browne showed what a huge difference a composed, pass-first point guard can make, his nine dimes in Auckland bringing the Phoenix offence to life. Brisbane need to find more good looks for Baynes and Johnson, and Cadee playing with the starting group might be the answer. Few read defences better than JC, and last season the Bullets were 6-5 when he dished six or more assists, compared to 4-13 otherwise.

Alan Williams & Zhou Qi v Aron Baynes – The big Banga will like going up against two traditional centres, but right now the Boomer is his own toughest opponent. Shooting 39 per cent and going a team-worst -51 in 94 minutes on court, it’s simply taking Baynes time to regain touch at both ends. Zhou and Williams loved life with a full line-up in New Zealand, combining for 26 points and 15 boards, so Brisbane’s bigs better be up for the on-ball challenge.

Trey Kell v Tyler Johnson – Kell showed nice signs on debut with great composure and the ability to create his own shot. Second-time around alongside Browne, he spaced the floor, drained triples and found space on backdoor cuts to finish with 13 points and five dimes. Johnson had 24 in Tasmania and looked to be coming out of his NBL shell, but against Sydney he took just eight shots, and that’s not enough for Brisbane to post a winning score.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">HE&#39;S AT IT AGAIN BIG ZHOU! ? ?<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/Y4A9puzQpH">pic.twitter.com/Y4A9puzQpH</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1582992306692845569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s saying what?

When they led by 16 points in Tasmania, it looked like Brisbane’s pressure valve might get released thanks to a much-needed win.

Of course, they fell in a second-half hole and fell in overtime, then jumped Sydney to lead by 11, only to watch that evaporate and become a 20-point deficit in the space of two miserable quarters.

You could sense the frustration on the Nissan Arena floor, and in the post-game press conference.

“Execute the game plan coaches are putting forth for a consistent amount of time. Done,” that was coach James Duncan’s blunt message to his players via the media.

“I’m repeating myself a lot over the last few games and the guys have to understand that, yeah, we have 24 more games left, but we can’t say this throughout the course of the season.

“We need to execute, and everyone needs to be en pointe, and that’s from the top from our leaders down to our rookies as well.”

Young forward DJ Mitchell was as curt as his coach in that presser, and it’s probably no surprise that pair had a much-publicised falling out at training days later.

However, perhaps the most frustrated Bullet is the ever-driven Nathan Sobey, who has gone from All-NBL superstar prior to his knee injury, to someone averaging 10ppg at 38 per cent so far this season.

“I know that he has high expectations of himself, and when you have such a serious injury like that, unfortunately it takes quite some time to get back to the level everyone has seen you at previously,” Duncan said.

“Practices and games he’s just continuing to try and get enough reps, same with Baynesy just missing some easy stuff that normally he would probably make.

“It’s just a matter of getting them more minutes and more reps so they can find a rhythm so they can try to help us and be consistent.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Baynes throws it down for the Bullets first bucket on home court in NBL23 ?<br><br>Watch live on 10 Peach or Kayo Freebies<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RIVERCITYSTRONG?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RIVERCITYSTRONG</a> <a href="https://t.co/ikDlXVbPxd">pic.twitter.com/ikDlXVbPxd</a></p>&mdash; Brisbane Bullets (@BrisbaneBullets) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets/status/1581514266456526849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In the short term, Duncan just wants consistent application to the small details, frustrated by watching Sydney grab six offensive rebounds in the second quarter last week and convert them to 12 second chance points, the exact amount they outscored his team by.

“This is the first game that has come into play as an issue of effort or just physicality,” he said.

“They're coming to offensive rebound and we’re watching them come and offensive rebound.

“We’ve got a choice to make, either go hit somebody and go and get that freaking ball, or the other side of it is you're not hitting anybody and they continually come and crash the boards.”

The bad news is they now visit SE Melbourne, the league’s best offensive rebounding team, grabbing 12.8 o-boards per night at a staggering 37 per cent – the rest of the NBL averages 26 per cent.

They only had nine offensive rebounds in Auckland on Thursday, but that’s because they shot 62 per cent from the field, including a staggering 26/37 from two-point range.

The frontcourt of Mitch Creek, Alan Williams, Zhou Qi and Reuben Te Rangi combined for 19/25 thanks to the exquisite passing of Gary Browne and Trey Kell, while their marksmen shot 10/21 shooting from outside.

“One thing that’s been our Achilles heel in the first few games has been our pace and space and where we’re starting on the floor, and how in transition we’re getting out and running,” Kyle Adnam said.

“Tonight I thought we did a really good job of running deep, running to corners and stretching the floor, it just gives you that extra second for catch and shoot.

“I thought our pace and space on offence was the best we've had this season, and I think that was a big part of why we shot the ball well.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">?&#39;s for everyone! <br><br>Rowdy and Kell x2?? ? <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/b7sXk9aZxO">pic.twitter.com/b7sXk9aZxO</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1583002161621118976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

That’s going to be tough to repeat 48 hours later, even with home-court advantage.

Away teams have now won 12 of the past 13 NBL games in a trend that will be of concern to clubs all around the league, who want their fans watching winning basketball.

For Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell, it is an issue that can be dealt with via future fixturing, but right now his team has to find some energy to give their faithful a repeat of Thursday's performance.

“We’re almost at that point with the way schedules are going that it’s not so much whether it's home or away, it’s how rested you are,” he said.

“We've got to go home and try to defend our home court against Brisbane who are going to be fresh as a daisy, so we've got to get up for that.”

And for Mitchell, that means not getting into a track meet with the Bullets, but executing with poise, making the most of the minutes on the floor and shooting with confidence.

“We've got to make shots,” he said.

“We don’t have our legs yet. If we can make some shots until we get our wind, get our lungs going with those guys who have returned it will keep us in games.”