R19 Preview: SE Melbourne Phoenix vs Melbourne United

When: 7.30pm (AEDT), Thursday 7 April, 2022

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sports NZ


Who won the last time?
Melbourne 98 (Dellavedova 22, Ili 19, Goulding 16) d South East Melbourne 90 (Creek 27, Munford 23, Qi 16) – Round 15, John Cain Arena, Melbourne

Mike Tyson said everyone has a plan until they get hit in the face. Well, the Phoenix were outstanding in the Round 15 Throwdown, leading by 12 with less than eight minutes remaining, until Chris Goulding started raining the blows, landing eight points in two minutes to change the game. South East Melbourne went into their shells, played slow, one-on-one basketball and watched as the reigning champs outscored them 28-8 in a devastating run home.


What happened last start?

Melbourne pulled the same trick in Perth on Monday night but made their move a little earlier, a 15-2 run in 4:30 surrounding three quarter-time the game breaker as they chanced their arm getting physical and, while whistled repeatedly under the new interpretations, took the 'Cats out of any offensive rhythm and generated easy scores to gap their hosts.

The Phoenix were far too polite to their hosts in Cairns last round, giving up 56 points in the first half at 51 per cent in a staggeringly poor defensive performance from a team with its season on the line. Having fallen from 11-5 to 12-11, South East Melbourne now must win all five remaining games, pick up some percentage and hope Perth drop at least two more.


Who’s in form?

Xavier Munford – X is marking the spot, averaging 23.3 points 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals in his past four games. He hit Melbourne up for 24 points at 50 per cent in Round 15, but when United were charging, Munford shot a wayward 1/5 in the final eight minutes. South East Melbourne need their combo guard emulating Xavier Rathan-Mayes down the stretch.

Matthew Dellavedova – The Delly treys are flying out the door, dropping 2.8 triples per game at 45 per cent over his past six outings. He was a match-winner in Perth with 17 points, six assists, five three-pointers and four rebounds, while last Throwdown he had 24 points on 4/8 from deep. Melbourne are 7-0 when he hits multiple triples at 40 per cent or better.



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here is said triple... Delly with 19pts in the first 20 minutes.<br><br>Tune in to this Throwdown NOW! Watch live via 10Peach, Kayo Freebies or ESPN <a href="https://t.co/3hwO3nGvus">pic.twitter.com/3hwO3nGvus</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1502872507615166464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Who needs to be?

Cam Gliddon – South East Melbourne were 11-6 when Ryan Broekhoff got injured and they’re 1-5 since. They miss Rowdy’s defence and rebounding, but they also miss his ability to keep a defender pinned to the arc. The Phoenix are 4-1 when Gliddon hits multiple triples, but he is yet to do it against a top six team. He needs minutes and shots to stretch the floor on Thursday.

Chris Goulding – Talking about triple threats, Melbourne are 11-2 when their skipper hits three or more trifectas, but just 5-5 across the rest of the season. He got involved early in Perth with a pair of long bombs in the opening three minutes, forcing the Wildcat defence to adjust. If he can do likewise on Thursday he can stretch the struggling Phoenix interior D.


Who’s statting up?

 - In the five minutes after the Phoenix led by 12 points in the fourth quarter in Round 15, SEM averaged 9.1 dribbles per possession in their front half and scored three points. Melbourne averaged 4.1 bounces and scored 15 points

 - Melbourne’s starters have been outscored by 24 points across the three Throwdowns, but they have been +31 on bench points, including a 31-6 advantage in Round 15

 - In the five games since the Throwdown, the Phoenix have given up 61 per cent shooting from two-point range and averaged 2.6 blocks while limiting their use of drops defence. Up until that point they had conceded just 49 per cent inside and swatted 4.1 shots per night

 - In the final term of the Round 15 Throwdown, Zhou Qi had just two post-up catches and no roll-out touches. His two post-ups resulted in 5 points, while SE Melbourne’s other 16 possessions generated just 12 points


Who’s matching up?

Mitch Creek v Jack White – If it were not for the Mitch Creek show, the Phoenix would be buried a long time ago. Yes, he dropped from insanely elite to just very good in recent weeks, but he bounced back with 24ppg at 50 per cent and 8rpg in his past two games, and pleasingly shot 59 per cent from inside after slipping to 41 per cent in his previous three.  

Creek had 26 points 31 minutes into the last Throwdown, but managed just one more on 0/2 as South East Melbourne’s ball movement stalled. Part of that was his team getting sucked into isolation plays by Melbourne’s pressure, but part was White’s outstanding D. Jack had 28 points, 14 rebounds and four dimes in 57 minutes last round, and must make Creek work defensively too.

Zhou Qi v Jo Lual-Acuil – Big Zhou was a major factor last time these teams met with 16 points at 75 per cent, 12 rebounds, four o-boards, three blocks, two assists and a team-high +7, with the Phoenix outscored by 15 in the 14 minutes their centre was seated. It was a strong response to big Jo’s 30-point, nine-rebound barn-burner in the previous Throwdown.

The issue for Simon Mitchell is defensively, where the South East Melbourne interior has collapsed ever since he’s asked Qi to show hard on guards. Unless they have Brandon Ashley on as a secondary shot-blocker, they need Qi defending the paint, and closing out late on threes from JLA, given he has connected on 42 deuces but only four triples in the past eight games.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Double-double watch for <a href="https://twitter.com/officialzhouqi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@officialzhouqi</a> as he throws one down?????<br><br>He’s on 14 points and 9 boards.<br><br>? Tune in on <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10peachau</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> <a href="https://t.co/4jIT5JfciM">pic.twitter.com/4jIT5JfciM</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1502875976027492355?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Who’s talking the talk?

When the last Throwdown took place, it was two sides battling for the minor premiership and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

Fast forward four weeks and while United are still atop the table with their destiny in their own hands, it’s a different story for the Phoenix after four losses from five games.

“It’s a little emotional at the moment, we’re all searching for the answers on how to get through this, the guys are trying their best to take this on the right way, as you saw on the floor today with the competitiveness, that’s intact,” coach Simon Mitchell said.

“I don’t think it’s so much the finals issue, I think for us it’s the last four weeks of the process, of the way that we've lost. We've been in each one of these games and it’s self-inflicted wounds that have got us into the position we’re in.”

There were no bigger wounds than losses in Adelaide and Cairns, where they have simply been out-hustled by teams who no longer have playoffs to play for.

“Physicality’s certainly been one that we've been exposed in in a couple of games, so I go back to the Adelaide game and Illawarra in Illawarra, I thought our performance on the defensive boards was really poor,” Mitchell said.

“We've seen droplets of that in other games as well, it’s just making sure for 40 minutes we’re consistently applying what we need to do.

“Every team in every game is going to have some slip-ups now and then, but I think our slip-ups have been prolonged and it’s spread along the group a little bit.”

Their fourth quarter drop-off in the Round 15 Throwdown was prolonged and painful for Phoenix fans, wasting what had been a brilliant performance until then.

“We get a nice little lead and we’re not able to hold on, teams are able to run us out of our structures down the stretch, it was a tremendously disappointing way to finish off a good game,” Mitchell said.

“I thought defensively outside of those plays we were really solid, I know we gave up a whole bunch of points in the last couple of moments, but leading into that it felt like we were pretty solid defensively.

“But at the offensive end we just weren’t able to execute.”


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">X adding to his 1??9?? points ?<br><br>? Tune in on <a href="https://twitter.com/10PeachAu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10PeachAu</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> Freebies <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/bM9aaSldSd">pic.twitter.com/bM9aaSldSd</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1502881912217808899?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>



There are promising signs, however, starting with the form of Xavier Munford.

“He made the adjustments and got himself in the paint,” Mitchell said after his import dropped 23 on Melbourne.

“He’s so difficult to contain off the dribble, especially when he decides to go early, and I thought we saw the fruits of that tonight for the majority of the game.”

Mitch Creek has been a dominant force in this season series, averaging 22 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, while Zhou Qi has averaged 17 points, 10 boards and 4.5 blocks, and was unstoppable last time before SEM inexplicably stopped feeding him the ball.

“Obviously Creeky’s been really good in all those games and we’ve had our challenges with Zhou Qi at different times. It’s just making sure that we’re locked into our scout and we’re doing the things that we can do,” United coach Dean Vickerman said.

“We know they’re going to play at an intensity level, season on the line kind of moment for them, so if we can do what we did in Perth and really come with that defensive pressure mentality we’ll put ourselves in a good place.”

Monday’s final quarter, and the fourth period of the last Throwdown will have Melbourne confident they can grind their little brother down once again.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">CG is heating up! Here we go…<br><br>Catch the last quarter of Throwdown XV delivered by Doordash now! Tune in via 10Peach, Kayo Freebies or ESPN <a href="https://t.co/MnywsGiY34">pic.twitter.com/MnywsGiY34</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1502883978222903300?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>



“The experience that we've got on this group, they’ve been in these situations before, we know that if we just put consecutive stops together, share the basketball and screen the way we should screen that we always give ourselves a chance,” Vickerman said.

“Then there’s got to be some special mixes in there, special plays. I thought there was one, we’d missed a shot and Shea chases it down, knocks it out of someone’s hands and it’s falling out of bounds and we tap it back in.

“You just need those kind of examples to say we’re not quitting on anything and when you see that, everyone feels the confidence.”

Then there’s the array of offensive weapons, which allows Chris Goulding to pick and choose his moments, as he did to perfection with his match-winning 13-point final term against the Phoenix in Round 15.

“Using me as a decoy to drag a defender out and put Delly in some ball-screen action with our bigs, and have some action occupying the weakside, was something that was really good for us, it got us that lead at half-time,” Goulding said.

“My mindset was let’s keep doing what’s working. The advantage of that dried up a tiny bit in the second half because I couldn’t find myself in those positions where I could drag a help defender, so we just went into the playbook and found some different stuff.

“My mindset was just remain aggressive. You might not get a shot for a few minutes, we’ve got a lot of guys that can play basketball, just remain aggressive and when it’s your turn try to put them in.”