Preview: South East Melbourne vs New Zealand - Round 5, NBL24

Friday, October 27, 2023

Can South East Melbourne keep the good times rolling, or will a wounded Breakers bounce back from three defeats in a row?

Saturday, October 28 at 5:30pm AEDT | John Cain Arena

Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo Sports | Sky Sport in New Zealand - International viewership details
Box scores: Download the free NBL App

Since the return of Alan Williams and the defeat of Tasmania in Round 3, South East Melbourne has won three straight games and been labelled as a ‘team to watch’ by Damon Lowery.

The Breakers fell to Adelaide on Friday night in a defeat that was expedited by an injury to Zyulan Cheatham – ESPN’s Olgun Uluc has reported the star forward will miss 6-8 weeks with a foot fracture.

The clash will be Dane Pineau’s first against his former side. Pineau was a foundation player with the Phoenix in 2019 and played 81 games for the side.

South East Melbourne
96-73 win over Brisbane
102-85 win over Adelaide
86-85 win over Tasmania

New Zealand
85-97 loss to Adelaide
88-97 loss to Melbourne
84-89 loss to Brisbane

Alan Williams
Does any player personify the fortunes of their team as much as Alan Williams and the South East Melbourne Phoenix?

When ‘Big Sauce’ was absent through injury the Phoenix looked promising – if not a little disjointed – and now he’s come back into the lineup they’ve quickly established themselves as one of the form teams of the competition.

His link-up with fellow imports Gary Browne and Will Cummins – plus Mitch Creek – has established the Phoenix’s starting group as one of the most fearsome prospects in the NBL, in the way all four can single-handedly win the game for their team.

South East Melbourne has proclaimed itself as contenders for each of the past two seasons before form and injury derailed the latter part of each campaign. If this is the season they’re finally to make some serious waves, Williams will likely be an All-NBL nominee. Watching him play at his best is a privilege.

“He’s been fantastic since he’s been back. Really full of energy, playing hard, and his talk and energy have gone through the group and lifted us.” – Mike Kelly following the win against Brisbane.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Floater alert ?<br><br>Alan Williams is up to 10 points mid-way through the second quarter ?<br><br>Watch live on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/xCTukSWHHF">pic.twitter.com/xCTukSWHHF</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1715626105841877252?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 21, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Anthony Lamb
Saying 'Anthony Lamb is the player to keep an eye on for New Zealand is starting to sound like a bit of a broken record', but Mody Maor once again called for more from his newest import, and with the injury to Zylan Cheatham, Lamb is one of a host of players who will need to step up and fill the breach.

Lamb continues to excel for New Zealand as he adapts to the non-NBA style of basketball, and he once again showcased his innate ability to score in Thursday’s loss to Adelaide, where he finished with a game-high 25 points on and efficient 10-15 shooting.

The former Golden State Warrior is definitely showing signs of being a force in the NBL this season, and if Cheatham’s absence means he moves into the starting lineup and earns more touches on offence – that could be seen as the silver lining to what will be a gut-punch of an absence for the coming games.

“Anthony’s great, he’s a very good basketball player who’s adjusting to a whole different world, a different style of play, a different position, he was good today and he made strides. He’ll be better.” – Mody Maor following the loss to Adelaide.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Anthony Lamb knocks down the triple to bring the <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nzbreakers</a> within striking distance ?<br><br>Catch the fourth quarter action live and free on Kayo Freebies / NBL YouTube for NZ viewers ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLxNBA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLxNBA</a> <a href="https://t.co/fCqmegx7bm">pic.twitter.com/fCqmegx7bm</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1714116726730711090?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Gary Browne vs Parker Jackson-Cartwright
Two of Damon Lowery’s proclaimed ‘Little Big Man Society’ will lock horns in the backcourt on Saturday in what’s looming as a must-win clash for both sides – but for different reasons.

Browne probably just meets the height requirement to make Lowery’s exclusive club at 6’1”, but has been electric for South East Melbourne so far in NBL24 – particularly since the return of Williams to the low post.

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Both Browne and Jackson-Cartwright have the ability to act as world-class distributors and world-class scorers. Both sit in the top 15 in the NBL for assists per game – Jackson-Cartwright is fifth at 5.3 per game, Browne is 11^th at 3.8 – and both sit in the top 20 for scoring – Jackson-Cartwright is sixth at 19.8 points per game and Browne is 17^th at 15 points per game.

The NBL has almost always had a crop of undersized import guards who can absolutely dominate the competition – but this season’s group containing Browne and Jackson-Cartwright could well be the best since Jerome Randle and Scott Machado graced the league at their peaks.

South East Melbourne’s Ben Ayre currently leads all qualified players in three-point percentage this season. He’s connected with 12 of 17 three-point attempts at 70.6 per cent. The presence of Will Cummings and Gary Browne ahead of him in the rotation means he doesn’t get a lot of usage – but New Zealand will need to not let Ayre get hot like we know he can.

Gettyimages 1718207359
Ben Ayre.