Preview: South East Melbourne vs Perth - Round 17, NBL24

Friday, January 26, 2024

South East Melbourne shocked the NBL world when it defeated Sydney, but now the Wildcats loom.

Saturday, January 27 at 8pm AEDT | State Basketball Centre

Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo - International viewership details
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South East Melbourne defeated Sydney on Thursday night despite missing key stars Alan Williams, Gary Browne, Craig Moller and Matt Kenyon. Abdel Nader suited up, but registered a DNP.

The victory was the Phoenix’s first in six games and stopped a run of five consecutive double-digit losses. Both Mitch Creek and Mike Kelly expressed pride at how the likes of Owen Foxwell, Kody Stattmann and Luke Rosendale stepped up in the win.

Perth suffered just their third home loss of the season on Thursday night when it was defeated by Illawarra, in a game where former Wildcat Todd Blanchfield torched the home side with 16 points.

Bryce Cotton was restricted to just 13 points in the loss, and the Wildcats have now moved to an 0-6 record when he has scored fewer than 15 points in a game this season.

South East Melbourne
104-98 win over Sydney
75-106 loss to New Zealand
85-110 loss to Adelaide

Perth
77-95 loss to Illawarra
104-98 win over Sydney
118-86 win over Brisbane

Owen Foxwell
Mitch Creek had been something of a sole shining light in South East Melbourne’s poor run of form heading into Thursday night’s clash with Sydney. The club captain had been in immense individual form, but he needed someone to ride alongside him and help lift the team in the heat of battle.

Without a litany of starters and key performers, that person against the Kings was Owen Foxwell.

Foxwell has long been highly-rated within the four walls of South East Melbourne, and the young guard had an early-career defining night in the victory over the Kings. He was calm, he was poised, and when the Phoenix needed him most, he stepped up.

He had a season-high 12 points, along with career-highs in rebounds (five) and assists (six) to put in the type of all action showing he’s shown glimpses of during his time in South East Melbourne’s rotation.

Whether the same type of load will be thrust upon him against Perth remains to be seen, but given his penchant for being put on to try and guard Bryce Cotton in the past, it looks likely he’ll play a key role regardless of any fit-again personnel coming back into the active roster.

“I think first of all the players did such a phenomenal job in being single-minded in how they went about playing, it was great belief by the players and the group as a whole, and it shows what can happen when you have that self-belief, you make some shots and then they came up with big plays down the stretch.” – Mike Kelly following the win over Sydney.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Owen Foxwell finishing through contact, in the clutch ? <br><br>Watch live on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/qyfPOXSS0I">pic.twitter.com/qyfPOXSS0I</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1750468182446317749?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Not Bryce Cotton
The Perth Wildcats have an interesting record when it comes to Bryce Cotton’s scoring output so far in NBL24. They’re 15-2 when he scores at least 15 points, and they’re now 0-6 when he scores fewer than 15 points.

That record continued in Thursday night’s defeat to Illawarra. Cotton scored just 13 points as the Wildcats struggled to get their usually potent offence working to its full capacity, and Hawks head coach Justin Tatum praised his litany of “long” defensive options for their work on the MVP-elect in the win.

Now, this is no slight on Cotton or the Wildcats. When your best scorer struggles to assert himself on offence in any game, that win/loss record is going to flip drastically.

What is does make for is an interesting debate as to if Cotton is once again held to a low scoring night – by his lofty standards – who is the player to step up?

We’ve seen Jordan Usher, Kristian Doolittle, Tai Webster and Keanu Pinder all ably play the role of lieutenant at various stages of this season, but when the chips are down and Cotton’s being blanketed, who steps up?

“They put a lot of attention towards him, they do a great job, and they believe in what they do. The next time we play them I’m sure they’ll come with the same stuff, because it’s worked very effectively. It’s up to us to figure out how we can make Bryce very efficient and they can’t stamp their authority on that matchup.” – John Rillie following the loss to Illawarra.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Keanu Pinder is on clean on up duty ? <br><br>Watch live on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/enOjTgx24a">pic.twitter.com/enOjTgx24a</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1750474368704999812?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Mitch Creek vs Kristian Doolittle
The battle at the power forward position between the Phoenix and Wildcats will be between a pair of players who experienced dramatically different Thursday night’s to open Round 17.

Mitch Creek starred with 25 points in the first half alone for South East Melbourne against Sydney, and while his scoring output dropped dramatically in the second half, his teammates rallied around him to earn a long overdue win.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pure emotion. <br> <br>Mitch Creek had this to say after <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SEMelbPhoenix</a>'s huge team win against the Sydney Kings ? <a href="https://t.co/vHHznypkqN">pic.twitter.com/vHHznypkqN</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1750487434071347326?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Doolittle, on the other hand, struggled against the Hawks. While he was at his active best on the defensive end with four steals and 10 rebounds, he hit just two of eight shots, half of which came from three.

As a player that does his best scoring work in the post and from the mid-range, him settling for looks from three was indicative of Perth’s offensive struggles on the night.

He also ended the game with five turnovers, and showcased a general lack of awareness at crucial times through the game.

Creek has been riding high on a stellar run of individual form in recent weeks, while Doolittle is looking to bounce back from a concussion and a tough night at the office.

They’re both spectacular players at their best. Can Creek keep his good times rolling? Or will Doolittle find his form and put the Phoenix to the sword?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">KRISTIAN DOOLITTLE. ?<br><br>Watch live on ESPN via Kayo & free via 10Peach & 10Play. <a href="https://t.co/hXmd7dOzcm">pic.twitter.com/hXmd7dOzcm</a></p>— Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1748927473734365485?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>