.webp)
Sign Up / Sign In
.png)
Profile
Exclusives
Account
R21 Preview: SE Melbourne Phoenix vs Brisbane Bullets
Share
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
Playoff lives are on the line when Keifer Sykes and the Phoenix welcome Nathan Sobey and the Bullets to the Snag Pit in Cairns.
When: 7.30pm (AEST), Wednesday 2 June
Where: Cairns Pop Up Arena
Broadcast: ESPN; Sky Sports NZ; SBS On Demand; Twitch
The last time
SE Melbourne 95 (Wetzell 18, Adnam 16, Creek 12, Te Rangi 12) d Brisbane 66 (Drmic 20, Patterson 11), Round 19, Nissan Arena, Brisbane
This was one of the more embarrassing home performances by an NBL side in some time. Having won three of their previous four to slide into serious playoff contention, the Bullets hung tough in the first half against a red-hot SE Melbourne side, only to capitulate and barely give a yelp after interval as the Phoenix whooped them 45-24 to cruise to victory. Yanni Wetzell led the way but had six teammates score 8 points or more in a team win.
The now
Backing that loss up, the Bullets trailed Melbourne by 20 mid-way through the third term, but came home strong to regain some momentum, then defeated Cairns and New Zealand in the space of four days to keep their season alive. They must defeat SE Melbourne twice and Sydney once in the final round to have a chance of making the playoffs, but after their clinical Round 20 demolition of the fired-up Breakers they will certainly back their chances.
This is a Phoenix home game played in Cairns due to COVID, and the last time that happened wasn’t pretty for Simon Mitchell’s men. Leading by 16 late in the third quarter in Round 20 they were overrun by the Snakes and now still have work to do. Their percentage is well ahead of Sydney and Brisbane, meaning one win against either the Bullets (whom they face twice) or New Zealand should secure their first playoff appearance in club history.
The stats
- SE Melbourne are 11-6 in games decided by double figures, but just 7-9 in closer games. The Bullets are 10-5 in single-figure games, but 6-12 when the margin reaches 10 or more
- The Phoenix and Brisbane rank first and second in points, second and third in assists, first and third in field-goal percentage, and second and fourth in offensive rating
- SE Melbourne rank first in the NBL in turnovers forced, and lead points from turnovers 56-36 in this season series
- The Bullets have averaged 98ppg in their past two games, shooting 51 per cent from the floor, 35-of-39 from the foul line, and dishing 49 assists to 28 turnovers
The key men
Keifer Sykes – The Phoenix allow the highest field-goal percentage and true shooting percentage of any team in the NBL. A large part of that is giving up 54 per cent from inside the arc, but against Cairns they leaked 15-of-25 from three-point land. Brisbane’s offence is clicking, and SE Melbourne need Sykes leading the disruption up the floor to get the ball out of Nathan Sobey’s hands and make the Bullets play outside of their clinical system.
Lamar Patterson – Of course, when NZ tried that last Sunday, Lamarvellous simply took over the playmaking and produced 21 points and 5 assists – with 4 helpers coming in the final 12 minutes – as well as a cool 10-of-10 from the charity stripe. While Patterson has shot just 15-of-46 over his past three games, he has penetrated at will to deal 15 dimes as Brisbane have scored 65.7ppg from ‘ones and twos’, up from their season average of 57.5ppg.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Crowd silencer ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WEAREBNE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WEAREBNE</a> <a href="https://t.co/vxSod2Z211">pic.twitter.com/vxSod2Z211</a></p>— Brisbane Bullets (@BrisbaneBullets) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets/status/1398921929415815169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The quotes
Last time the Bullets and Phoenix met 11 days ago, it seemed like it was a tight one for a while, but outgoing Brisbane mentor Andrej Lemanis feels like that was a mirage.
“We never got in a position where we were exerting our will onto the game and putting ourselves in a position to be able to make positive plays, we were always on our back foot and reacting,” he said.
“They pretty much were allowed to do what they wanted to do and over time that starts to build its own momentum, as things get more and more difficult their confidence gets up, ours goes in the opposite direction and we were never really able to arrest it.
“I think it shows itself in things like setting screens, I don’t think we did a great job setting screens, we’re not hitting anybody, we’re not getting anybody open and they were.
“They were getting at the rim, they were getting the shots that they wanted, the ball movement. We were stagnant, we only scored 24 in the second half, that was a problem but I think that was an outcome of our general passiveness throughout this game.”
SE Melbourne had a plan and executed it to near perfection, and that started with cutting off the head of the Brisbane snake, Nathan Sobey, who managed just 4 points on 1-of-7 shooting and was -25 in less the 25 minutes on court.
“A lot of that comes back onto me, Drej mentioned about being passive, I wasn’t as aggressive as what I usually am and didn’t lead from the front, and that might have transferred over to the group,” Sobey said.
“They were physical, and credit to them they played really well tonight, I'm (not) taking away from them, they got after it at the defensive end and pushed us out of situations we want to be in at the offensive end and we were on the back foot for a lot of that game.”
Of course, those 11 days seem like a lifetime ago now. Brisbane have played three games since and well and truly rediscovered their offensive mojo.
Against a fired-up New Zealand in their lone appearance at Spark Arena, the Bullets executed with precision and poise.
With few exceptions – like a Jason Cadee NBA three in transition that saw Lemanis immediately sub him from the game – they played with patience and exploited the Breakers’ aggression masterfully.
"There was a lot to like. There was contribution from everyone and at both ends of the floor. It was good that we were able to execute," Lemanis said post-game.
“I thought we did a better job of staying spaced offensively. They're a very aggressive defensive team and tonight I thought we handled that better than we have the last couple of times we played them in terms of our spacing and our ball movement.
“Our willingness to get off the ball (was) reflected in 21 assists, we shot the ball at 51 per cent and we had 56 points in the paint, which was a result of us being prepared to go through the process offensively – find spacing, set screens, roll hard, move the ball.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The name Johnson, BJ JOHNSON. <br><br>10 first half points for <a href="https://twitter.com/Bean_J20?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Bean_J20</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WEAREBNE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WEAREBNE</a> <a href="https://t.co/BP1fCYEkQ9">pic.twitter.com/BP1fCYEkQ9</a></p>— Brisbane Bullets (@BrisbaneBullets) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets/status/1398910961101139970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
While their offensive numbers were outstanding, what was more impressive was the NBL’s second-worst defensive team finally stepping up to the defensive plate, responding to some new schemes from coach Lemanis.
The Bullets held NZ to 41 per cent from the field and largely shut down their three-point game.
“Defensively it took us a little while to get into our schemes, we changed some things up tonight and once we did I thought there was a good commitment to that, kudos to our guys for being able to make that adjustment on a day’s preparation,” Lemanis said.
“When we’ve played them in the past they’ve certainly hurt us from the three-point line and tonight we kept them to 30 per cent from the three and that translated to some opportunities at the other end of the floor.”
While Illawarra have now locked away a playoff spot, the race is still alive thanks to SE Melbourne’s loss to Cairns, and a Brisbane win on Wednesday would bring them within one game of the Phoenix.
You can be sure they’ll be trying to replicate the Taipans’ final quarter and jam up the ball movement that creates penetration opportunities for Keifer Sykes and Mitch Creek, especially with Cam Gliddon not in uniform.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We’re 10/14 from three!! ???<a href="https://twitter.com/CammyGliddon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CammyGliddon</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/Uc5UnAzGGM">pic.twitter.com/Uc5UnAzGGM</a></p>— South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1398228602492129282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Our turnovers were awful, but that was led by a lack of direction and a lack of purpose I think. We became a stagnant, half-court, jam-it-into-the-post team, which is not who we are,” coach Simon Mitchell said.
“We are at our best when the ball is popping and we’re going from side to side and using pick-and-roll at a high level, we went away from that and it bit us on the bum.
“Against the zone we were fine, it was when they switched to man-to-man and they got some switching going and we got a bit negative.
“Even in the backcourt when they came and got the ball out of our point guard’s hands we get into situations where we’re four-on-three and we walk it up the floor and wait for them to get back on D instead of attacking the paint.”
The Phoenix are still in the box seat, however, and can all-but lock it away on Wednesday, but with Lamar Patterson firing in tandem with Sobey, the Bullets aren't giving up the chase.
They’ve played five games in the past 15 days – compared to SE Melbourne’s two – and that seems to have got them in rhythm.
“All the confidence in the world,” Patterson said.
“We know what we've got to do at this point, we got ourselves here, everyone wants to win, everyone wants to win the finals, we know we’ve got to win games.”