R1 Preview: Adelaide vs South East Melbourne

When: 3pm (AEDT), Sunday 17 January

Where: Adelaide Entertainment Centre

Broadcast: SBS VICELAND; Sky Sports NZ; SBS On Demand; Twitch

The last time

Adelaide 100 (Randle 35, Johnson 22, Griffin 13) d SE Melbourne 93 (Creek 27, Roberson 26, Madgen 10), Round 18, Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

Mitch Creek was … well … Mitch Creek in this one, tallying 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists as the Phoenix charged from 17 down to take the lead in the final term. Unfortunately for the visitors, Jerome Randle was … well … Jerome Randle. Playing in what would be his last win for Adelaide, ‘Rome piled in 11 points and two dimes in the final six minutes to guide the 36ers home and finish with 35 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

The now

While Adelaide got plenty from the point guard position that night, fast forward almost 12 months and they appeared rudderless in their season opener against Melbourne, with neither Donald Sloan nor Josh Giddey able to get their team into offence after the opening quarter. The Sixers were rushed, their spacing was poor, and rather than sharing the ball selflessly, coach Connor Henry seemed to feel his team overdribbled.

Last year, SE Melbourne were a team who could be spread out and punished at the rim – opponents averaged a league-high 25.8 two-point field goals – with the ill-fated recruitment of Keith Benson one of the key reasons they didn’t contend for a playoff spot in their debut season. However, coach Simon Mitchell will hope one-time Indiana Pacer Ben Moore will give a fair more versatile and capable defensive presence in the frontcourt.

The injury to Dane Pineau means Moore and Kiwi big Yanni Wetzell will need to produce from day one. However, their job will be made easier by the presence of Keifer Sykes, who while not quite the offensive dynamo predecessor John Roberson was, will bring a hunger for defence that will help unleash Creek and Co in the open floor.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">OH. NO.<br><br>Mitch Creek put the BOOM in Boomers that day ? <a href="https://t.co/OFphmhQE7p">pic.twitter.com/OFphmhQE7p</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1330364241245839360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 22, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The key men

Mitch Creek – When Creek scored 18 or more points last season the Phoenix were 8-9, when he didn’t they were 1-10. Up until New Year’s Eve last season, ‘Wolf’ averaged a stunning 22.2ppg, 7.3rpg, 3.6apg and 1.2spg to lead his expansion franchise to a respectable 8-10 record and entrench himself as the MVP favourite.

While niggles slowed him down across the final six weeks of the season, a refreshed Creek getting into the lane at will is a dangerous proposition for the rest of the league, especially with Cam Gliddon, Reuben Te Rangi, Adam Gibson, Kendall Stephens, Kyle Adnam, Moore and Sykes all capable of connecting from range.

Donald Sloan – What a horror start for Sloan, upon whom huge expectations have been placed in Adelaide. His last season in the NBA was 2015/16, and while he played three games for German team Telekom Baskets Bonn last season, the reality is it’s been a long time since he consistently faced defenders like Shea Ili and Mitch McCarron, and it showed.

Sloan struggled to get by opposition guards, rushed his use of ball screens and was unable to exploit bigger defenders on switches, resulting in him regularly trying to drive into crowded situations. Of course that was a common theme for the 36ers, whose head-down approach at times resembled a junior squad, but Sloan must find his composure and get his team organised.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="es" dir="ltr">The pick &#39;n r?o?l?l? no look.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreSixers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreSixers</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/dsloan15?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dsloan15</a> <a href="https://t.co/CuuefbEg5w">pic.twitter.com/CuuefbEg5w</a></p>&mdash; Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1350000864782499840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The stats

 - Adelaide’s starters were 7-of-30 from two-point range against United on Friday night

 - The 36ers were -14 possession in the possession game against Melbourne after coughing up 18 turnovers and allowing 18 offensive boards

 - SE Melbourne’s defensive rating in NBL20 was 121, placing them ninth. The eight teams ranked above them had an average defensive rating of 114

 - The Phoenix were 7-3 when they scored 100 or more last season, 2-9 when they scored in the 90s and 0-7 on lower-scoring nights

The quotes

What Adelaide coach Connor Henry identified as his team’s issue at Friday’s post-game press conference was no surprise, albeit in a more measured fashion than during the game.

“I don’t know what our one pass and two-pass possessions were but we sure didn’t share it with each other,” he said.

“We’ll watch film, it will be pretty evident that we’ve got to share the basketball a little bit more … we didn’t play catch enough with it, if we can do that we can get some easier shots.

“If we can keep the defence moving and gain an advantage, that’s the key.”

Henry and new guard Sunday Dech identified there was more to it than that though, as their team got caught in a chicken-egg scenario.

They grabbed just 62 per cent of their d-boards and forced only 12 turnovers from 83 possessions, meaning the 36ers had few chances to create scores from their defence, and constantly had to face United’s set D.

In contrast, Melbourne pulled in 79 per cent of their d-boards and forced 18 turnovers, opening up more and more transition opportunities as the game wore on.

“What went bad for us was on the boards as well, 56-38, that’s inexcusable,” Dech said.

“That’s something we’ll watch the film on and address and come back stronger on Sunday.”

Last season, facing SE Melbourne might have brought some relief from a defensive and rebounding standpoint – the Phoenix ranked last defensively and 7th on the boards – but coach Simon Mitchell is bullish about his team’s improvement.

“We’ve built a core who know what we’re about and know where we need to improve,” Mitchell said.

“The defensive end was an area we needed to address and I feel like we’ve done that in the off-season with the acquisitions that we’ve brought in.

“Reuben Te Rangi and Cam Gliddon have both been fantastic in the games they’ve played from a defensive standpoint, and Ben and Keifer both bring that intensity as well.

“I feel like all in all, we’re going to be a much better prospect on that end of the floor.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SEMelbPhoenix</a> import Ben Moore works hard at both ends of the ? floor ?<a href="https://twitter.com/JaminTheFiend?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JaminTheFiend</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/dAug37yAkR">pic.twitter.com/dAug37yAkR</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1325951389630001153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 10, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Perhaps the Phoenix’s biggest challenge has been the lack of pre-season games to acclimatise new faces, something that stood out for the new-look Sixers on Friday as imports Tony Crocker and Donald Sloan made ineffective debuts.

“I’m not going to make excuses (but) they’ve been here two weeks. They didn’t look good in the system, (but) they’ve looked good in bits and pieces in pre-season and in practice,” coach Henry said.

“Tony is going to play better and Donald’s going to play better if we get it through hands and we trust each other.

“A bit of growing pains. Can we turn it around right away on Sunday? I hope so.”