R14 Preview: SE Melbourne Phoenix vs Illawarra Hawks

Sunday, March 6, 2022

There is plenty on the line as Mitch Creek and the second-placed Phoenix welcome Tyler Harvey and the fourth-placed Hawks to Melbourne Park.

When: 5.30pm (AEDT), Sunday 6 March 2022

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sports NZ

Who won the last time?
SE Melbourne 88 (Munford 24, Creek 20, Le’afa 13) d Illawarra 87 (Harvey 20, S Froling 17, Reath 15) – Round 10, WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong

In one of NBL22’s most entertaining games, the Phoenix got hot from the arc early, Tyler Harvey brought the Hawks back and the seesaw continued. Illawarra couldn’t guard Xavier Munford and Mitch Creek, while SEM gave up cheap points against the Hawks’ pressure, including two late Antonius Cleveland steals-and-dunks that put them in a winning position. But Munford was fouled outside the arc and iced the game from the stripe.

What happened last start?

Munford underwhelmed in Adelaide on Friday, the Phoenix prevailing only thanks to a masterful display from Creek with some good support from Izayah Le’afa, Ryan Broekhoff and Brandon Ashley. Zhou Qi was better on the boards, but the SE Melbourne bench gave little punch, and Munford and Kyle Adnam had 7 assists and 8 turnovers between them.

The Hawks had six players in double-figures against New Zealand last round, their starters combining for 77 points at 56 per cent and they won bench scoring 25-12, with nine Hawks playing double-figure minutes in a rare showing of depth. While they conceded 87 points, their 8 steals and 19 points from turnovers would have delighted Brian Goorjian.

Who’s in form?

Mitch Creek – It’s time to tattoo Creek’s name in this section, the superstar scoring 19 or more in 12 of his 16 games so far, grabbing 5 or more boards in 11 games, and dishing 3 or more assists in 10. He smoked Adelaide with 29 at 67 per cent on Friday and had 20 at 62 per cent last time against the Hawks. Will Antonius Cleveland have to move to the four?

Justinian Jessup – JJ has poured in 40 points at 52 per cent the past two games, including 6/15 from the land of plenty. He’s also been getting active defensively to spark Illawarra’s running game, pinching 10 steals the past seven outings to just 6 turnovers. He only had 7 points on six attempts last time against the Phoenix, and needs more looks this time.

Who needs to be?

Xavier Munford – The up-and-down Munford was unstoppable in that meeting, dropping 24 points, dishing 5 assists and getting to the foul line nine times, including a pair of game-winners. His past two games have delivered just 13 points at 31 per cent, 1/5 from deep, 4 assists and 7 turnovers. The Phoenix need him efficiently creating for himself and others.

Harry Froling – Opposition teams have had success presenting different looks to Zhou Qi, forcing the swat machine to defend on the perimeter. While Reath will deliver that, big Harry is the x-factor who can force SEM into adjustments. He is an astonishing 19/25 from deep at 76 per cent when playing more than 14 minutes, surely enough to earn some burn?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BACK TO BACK ?’S <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreIllawarra?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/fuSFVsiDj6">pic.twitter.com/fuSFVsiDj6</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1498594176438792192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 1, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s statting up?

- Illawarra averages 8.3 steals and 18.8 points from turnovers in wins, compared to 6.1 thefts and 13.9 PFTs in losses.

- The Hawks are 0-4 and -35 against Melbourne, SE Melbourne and Perth, compared to 10-3 and +82 against the rest of the NBL

- SE Melbourne are -17 in their past four final quarters, losing three and drawing one

- The Phoenix had just 8 assists last time against Illawarra, but scored 70 points from ‘ones and twos’, including 50 points in the paint. Creek scored all 20 of his points from the key or free-throw line

Who’s matching up?

Izayah Le’afa v Tyler Harvey – Like the second coming of Shea Ili, the unflappable Le’afa is making a name for himself as a defensive beast in the NBL, while also proving he can be a solid offensive contributor. In three of his past four games, Le’afa has scored in double-figures while nailing 8/17 from long range and committing just 3 turnovers.

Can his physicality deal with the rangy length of Harvey? Last time, the Hawks star finished with 20 points thanks to his 7/9 from the free-throw line, the most attempts he’s taken in his NBL career. Harvey had 19 points on 6/9 from inside against NZ, and Le’afa will run him off the three-point line and hope Qi and Ashley have his back at the rim.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Zay doing what he does in the tight moments! ?<br><br>? Tune in on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> via <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/Sv3mzzT1mR">pic.twitter.com/Sv3mzzT1mR</a></p>— South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1499687960757039108?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s talking the talk?

You’d think Simon Mitchell would have been talking positives after SE Melbourne’s thrilling win over Adelaide, but he’s got high expectations for his team.

“I thought our decision making, particularly at the point guard position, was really poor in the fourth quarter,” he said.

“It’s something we’re working on and trying to get better at, we've seen (progress) in a couple of games, and it was just incredibly frustrating to see some of the decision making that went on.

“For us we want to get to that next level, I love where we’re sitting with our record, but we saw in the Brisbane game we didn’t close that out quite the way we could have, the Perth game we could have pushed out a lead and didn’t do that as well.

“We seem to be getting to these stretches where we have a nine, 10, 11, 12, 13-point lead and then all of a sudden our decision making can get poor.

“We've got to be more ruthless, a little bit more circumspect in saying where are we being successful, why aren't we continuing to go to that instead of worrying about how can I impact the game personally?

“We’re inching our way down that lane but we’re not getting there as quickly as I would like.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">That is how you do it! ??<br><br>? Tune in on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> via <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/GRS23jA4Dh">pic.twitter.com/GRS23jA4Dh</a></p>— South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1497523116494700547?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

What concerned Mitchell was the upcoming date with the Hawks, who love nothing more than feeding off opposition teams’ offensive ineptitude.

“Illawarra bring their own set of challenges,” he said.

“They're a streaky team and they can really get cooking quickly, we can’t have lapses like we did tonight in that second half from an offensive standpoint, because if you don’t continue to put pressure on them you're just going to watch a lead evaporate or a large lead start to be established.”

Last year’s Hawks had statistically the NBL’s least efficient half-court offence, but they made it to the post-season on the back of forcing turnovers and scoring the most in the open floor.

They’ve improved their execution this season, but after a high-pressure start to the season, their defence hadn’t been generating nearly as much run until recently, starving the likes of Justinian Jessup and Tyler Harvey of easy buckets.

“We've been the worst defensive team in the competition, I haven't been lying about that, and when you’re taking the ball out of the net the whole time you never get anything cheap,” coach Brian Goorjian said.

“Tonight you lose (Jessup) when the defence isn’t set, it’s the best opportunity for him to get shots and there was a lot of that tonight.

“Then I thought the early pick-and-roll in transition with the court spread, and they had to rotate, we did a good job of enabling him to get free.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/DuopReath?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DuopReath</a> doing it on BOTH ends for our ?<br><br>?: <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Foxtel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Foxtel</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreIllawarra?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/LueG8jjTJz">pic.twitter.com/LueG8jjTJz</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1495306640135909378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“That happens when we get those early on-balls because we get stops and we get out in front, or we move the ball from one side of the floor to the other.

“Both of those things haven't happened on a consistent basis this year.”

That improvement is just in time. The Hawks are in fourth place by percentage only, and have only three of their final 11 games at home.

They also have five meetings remaining with the trio of teams above them, who have not had the answers for so far this season.

“We've put ourselves in a position where if we don’t get a few of these we’re not going to make the playoffs,” Goorjian said.

“You look at that four, you look at Sydney, you look at Perth, you look at Melbourne, you look at Phoenix, where we are and where we sit, if we don’t win any of those games we’re not making the playoffs, and we've got to do it on the road.

“We understand the challenge, we’re getting better, Phoenix knows what’s at stake as well, so it makes for a great competition and a great season.

“There’s no easy games and where we are our backs are against the wall the rest of the way, we can’t afford to dump anything and we've got to beat a few of these good teams to get there.”