R10 Preview: SE Melbourne Phoenix vs Adelaide 36ers

Saturday, March 20, 2021

Brandon Paul spelled a warning on his NBL debut, Ryan Broekhoff was subdued but will surely be rowdy soon. These two NBA shooters meet head on at John Cain Arena on Saturday.

When: 5.30pm (AEDT), Saturday 20 March

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne

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

The last time
Adelaide 99 (Johnson 27, Humphries 24, Giddey 15) d SE Melbourne 94 (Creek 23, Gliddon 18, Moore 13), Round 6, John Cain Arena, Melbourne

A Josh Giddey trifecta sparked a withering 25-6 Adelaide run that ultimately proved decisive. Daniel Johnson scored nine quick points early in the burst, while Jack McVeigh added eight late to put the 36ers 17 points ahead in the fourth period. A furious Phoenix response had the margin back to one in the final minute, but an Isaac Humphries three-point play sealed the deal for the Sixers.

The now
SE Melbourne’s inability to convert at the rim hurt dearly that day, putting to waste a clinical offensive display where their ball movement created 27 assists on 31 made field goals, opened up trifectas and driving lanes and put foul pressure on the Sixers, who had three starters on 4 fouls.

The 36ers need to unlock their inner demons after a demoralising capitulation to Perth. There are certainly positives to take out of that game, given how dominant their high-speed opening half was and how promising Brandon Paul looked, but how much mental damage was done? Second halves haven’t been kind to Adelaide of late, and they need much more in their kit bag than Giddey coming off high ball-screens when the defence ups its intensity.

The stats

- In their past four losses, the 36ers have been outscored by a total of 66 points after half-time, with an average score of 52.3 to 35.8

- After interval against Perth, 18 of Adelaide’s 31 field-goal attempts were from outside the arc and they attempted just 2 free throws

- SE Melbourne are +54 on scores from two-pointers in their nine wins, compared to -92 in their seven losses

- The Phoenix have averaged 21.7 assists in their past six wins, while committing just 10.7 turnovers.

The key men

Josh Giddey – In two Adelaide wins over the Phoenix, Giddey has added 31 points, 18 rebounds and 17 assists, with his team +28 with the Next Star on the floor and -15 in his 20 minutes of pine time. In the 36ers’ loss to SE Melbourne he was in street clothes. That’s what you call a difference maker, and with the future NBA first rounder adding 33 points, 24 dimes and 6 triples in his past two outings, SE Melbourne’s guards have their work cut out.

Ryan Broekhoff – After a rust-buster against New Zealand where Rowdy was a quiet +11 as he nailed 1-of-2 threes and did all the little things he does, a much greater onus falls on the Boomers swingman now. The six-day break will no doubt help him learn the Phoenix system and get his legs underneath him, but Tony Crocker and Jack McVeigh need to test that out with an aggressive display.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="cs" dir="ltr">Automatic ? <a href="https://twitter.com/RBroekhoff45?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RBroekhoff45</a> <a href="https://t.co/lYExdmzUmr">pic.twitter.com/lYExdmzUmr</a></p>— South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1370952106048294914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The quotes

Adelaide fans have been privileged to see the emergence of a young man seemingly destined for greatness on the global basketball stage.

Josh Giddey has grown before their eyes, albeit on TV in the past month, and his read of the passing lanes, instinctive rebounding, ever-improving three-point shot and pure passion for the game has won plenty of people over.

He can’t quite do everything yet though. That became clear as Perth upped the pressure and Giddey was unable to get his team into offence as they went scoreless for more than five minutes, never rediscovered their offensive flow and watched a 26-point lead become a nine-point loss.

After a most magical first half where he dished double-digit dimes, Giddey didn’t have the experience to lead his team out of their second-half hole.

“As we all know Josh is developing and I think exceeding all the expectations coming into this season already, but Josh will admit that reading the game, especially at tough times, and making great decisions, that’s still a work in progress,” coach Connor Henry said.

“His numbers are spectacular for an 18-year-old and he’s still learning the game. One day he’s going to be a phenomenal player who’s going to be able to control a whole 40-minute game and close out games and read things.

“I'm a big fan of his and I can’t wait to see that day.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just keep ????'? them up... Jack.<br>3?? of 3?? from deep. <a href="https://t.co/kYc34BErX0">pic.twitter.com/kYc34BErX0</a></p>— Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1370982304999374850?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The coach certainly wasn’t blaming his rookie phenom, however, and new recruit Brandon Paul made it clear his entire team needs to up their consistency.

“It's a fast-paced game, very physical,” he said after his first NBL experience.

“We've talked as a team, we've just got to be able to put 40 minutes together. We knew they were going to come out like the champs and they did. We've got to be able to sustain that punch and just compete, at the end of the day they pounded us on the boards.

“Our guys fought, we fought really hard, I was really proud of what I saw, big difference from what I was watching in quarantine.

“There’s a lot of things to be happy about. We’ll go back and focus in on what we've got to do to continue to get better.”

Paul piled in 25 points on 6-of-10 three-point shooting straight out of quarantine, a scary proposition for opposition clubs if he continues to get better.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Aaaaaand just like that, <a href="https://twitter.com/BP3?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BP3</a> has 1??6?? points at the half. <a href="https://t.co/IGFUrOcsJt">pic.twitter.com/IGFUrOcsJt</a></p>— Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1370983697571147776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

New Phoenix star Ryan Broekhoff didn’t quite have the same impact in his NBL debut, but coach Simon Mitchell was still very happy to have him on board.

“His legs clearly aren't there at this point in time and we didn’t expect them to be this early,” Mitchell said.

“He’s probably not going to put his hand up and say that was his greatest game of all time but he’s three-points, he’s +11 in nine minutes of playing time, he requires that much attention and he opens up the floor for other guys because you’ve got to guard him nose to nose.

“But I think there are also elements to Ryan that we need to explore that I know of that isn’t just standing in the corner and spreading the floor, he’s got game that he can show in the NBL.

“He's talking his way through his assignments, so you can just see the IQ coming through on the defensive side, it’s just we've got to get that body up to shape so he can execute what he's talking.”

The ever-improving form of import Ben Moore will also be a key to subduing Daniel Johnson.

“Benny’s performance the past couple of games has been outstanding,” Mitchell said.

“He’s got so many tricks in the tool bag that we’ve got to continue to find them and discover them, we see them at practice every now and again and we think there’s something to excite us and we start to bring that out.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Highlights <a href="https://t.co/zOWt8ntgit">pic.twitter.com/zOWt8ntgit</a></p>— South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1371231294454001664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>