R3 Preview: Sydney Kings vs SE Melbourne Phoenix

When: 5.30pm (AEDT), Saturday 18 December

Where: Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sports NZ


Who won last time?

Sydney 101 (Hunter 19, Ware 19, Martin 11, Moller 11) d South East Melbourne 81 (Creek 29, Gliddon 16, Adnam 13) - Round 15, 2021, John Cain Arena, Melbourne

Meeting for the third time in three weeks, Sydney blew the Phoenix away with a 35-14 third term behind the exploits of Craig Moller and Casper Ware. For a South East Melbourne team missing Keifer Sykes, the irrepressible Mitch Creek racked up 29 points at 67 per cent.


What happened last start?

The Kings won’t want to talk about their last start, because if it were a car race they would have been stalled on the grid, their pit crew desperately trying a push start while Melbourne completed lap after lap. A 26-0 start is almost unheard of in professional basketball, Sydney settling for jumper after jumper as their night disappeared quickly.

There were no such issues for the Phoenix, who are the NBL’s fast starters, their ability to hit from range a key to gapping their opponents early. Against Melbourne on Sunday, they were up 27-12 at the first break, withstood a ferocious United surge that pinched the lead, then unleashed a cool 14-0 run midway through the fourth to take out the Throwdown.


Who’s in form?

No one in purple – When you give up the biggest quarter-time lead in NBL history, the biggest half-time lead in the modern 40-minute era, make the fewest field-goals in league history at the lowest percentage ever, there ain’t nobody in form. What Thursday’s slow start and lack of response showed was a leadership void that needs to be filled by Saturday.

Zhou Qi – After a total of 16 points, eight rebounds and five blocks in his opening two games, Qi broke free in the Throwdown with 22 points, 10 boards and seven swats in a match-winning display. He faces a new challenge against Sydney, their versatile big men sure to test his mobility, while Zhou must be a big target on the roll-out to exploit his size advantage.


Who needs to be?

Chase Buford – While the Kings new boss wants them to play fast and furious, attacking the cup consistently, when Melbourne upped the pressure on Thursday they lacked the execution to put their preferred driving options in advantageous positions, or to create mismatches to exploit, and Melbourne showed bad drives can be like outlet passes.

Izayah Le’afa & Kyle Adnam – Have no doubt Sydney will dish out the same defensive intensity they copped from United, hoping to create easy scores early and put Thursday’s nightmare behind them. So far, Le’afa and Adnam have dealt 15 dimes and coughed up just three turnovers between them, and they’ll need every bit of that composure on Saturday.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="in" dir="ltr">Te Rangi bringing that 3 ? <a href="https://t.co/UYnE2me6Mr">pic.twitter.com/UYnE2me6Mr</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1469880050434539524?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s statting up?
 - In their opening quarters against Melbourne and NZ last round, the Phoenix shot 11/14 from range and outscored their oppo 62-34. Across the remaining quarters they shot 8/28 outside and were outscored by 13

 - South East Melbourne coughed up just 18 turnovers in their Round 2 games, going +19 on points from turnovers in their combined winning margins of 15

 - The Kings went 0/11 from the three-point line in Thursday’s opening quarter, and attempted more triples than deuces across the game

 - Sydney’s bench shot 13 free throws against United, while their starters managed just two, both by Cooks


Who’s matching up?

Xavier Cooks v Mitch Creek – Wolf’s Round 2 portfolio features 52 points on 8/11 shooting from outside, and those numbers should scare the rest of the NBL. The Kings will certainly be concerned, Creek averaged 23.5ppg at 59 per cent against them last season, to give a taste of his improved perimeter game, and this is a huge challenge for Cooks.

While there were no shining lights for Sydney on Thursday, Cooks at least showed a glimmer of hope with 12 points and six boards, and he currently ranks fourth in the NBL in blocks, ninth in rebounds, 10th in o-boards and 11th in assists. On Saturday, he must use his length to force Creek off the three-point line and challenge his drives at the cup.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">THROWDOWN XIII HAS EXPLODED?? ? <a href="https://t.co/S4RrgrZZQj">pic.twitter.com/S4RrgrZZQj</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1469874053959716866?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s talking the talk?

When your former coach and mentor calls you the “sh___iest little defender in the league” it has to sting, but Kyle Adnam has much bigger fish to fry.

“I take it personally a bit, but that’s for Deano to say, heat of the battle, emotion, whatever, whether they believe that or not, that’s fine,” Adnam said.

“I just go back and climb into the ball and keep doing the things we've put together as a defensive structure and as a unit.”

Adnam and the Phoenix executed those with aplomb in last Sunday’s showdown, holding Melbourne to 39 per cent from the field, forcing 17 turnovers and grabbing 70 per cent of the boards at their defensive end.

South East Melbourne have a defensive rating of 103 after their opening three games, far superior to last season’s 111, and in a different universe to the 121 of their inaugural year.

Coach Simon Mitchell revealed his team’s fast defensive start was spurred by revisiting Games 2 and 3 of last year’s semi-finals on the eve of NBL22.

“There was an intensity and a synchronicity of our defence during those games that was a really, really high level,” Mitchell said.

“So our focus was really about we want to go straight back to start with that, replicate it in Round 1 and continue with it as a barometer for us.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Big Zhou says NO! ?<br><br>He’s had 3?? blocks in the first half. <a href="https://t.co/AJrKv0ReqI">pic.twitter.com/AJrKv0ReqI</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1469859013663674372?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Of course, one other significant reason for that improvement is the arrival of the 216cm Zhou Qi.

“Just his length, he blocks a lot of shots, but he would have changed another five or so,” Adnam said.

“I think having that anchor on the defensive end for us is amazing, and as a guard it does give you confidence to climb into the ball knowing there is that rim protection for sure.”

Qi was also a big offensive factor in the Throwdown, and he’s only going to become more dangerous as he learns to feed off Adnam, Xavier Munford and Mitch Creek.

“He was good tonight, 10-of-13 from the field, that’s pretty efficient,” Mitchell said.

“Guys were making plays to help him with that. As he flourishes in our system and gets more familiar with guys, he’s naturally going to get touches.”

Qi’s length and ability at both ends of the court presents an interesting poser for the Kings, who lack a true centre but have three multi-skilled bigs in Cooks, Jarell Martin and Makur Maker.

If they execute well, Sydney can get their capable frontcourt open looks, and then open up driving lanes when Qi is drawn away from the hoop.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Good business decision by CG43 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/oOrdajwS3G">pic.twitter.com/oOrdajwS3G</a></p>&mdash; Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1471419559437488132?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

However, executing well is not a given after the Kings’ disastrous offensive performance in Melbourne.

“We talked about trying to move the ball a little bit. I thought we got – I don’t want to say selfish – but we were trying to do it all on our own,” coach Buford said.

“We just ran early pick-and-rolls all night long when I was begging to get into some more actions, make them guard us a little bit. We never really figured out how to do that.”

One King who did successfully poke some holes in the Melbourne defence was rookie Biwali Bayles, who got into the lane regularly for nine points and four assists, and he’s ready to try and inspire his older teammates again.

“It was pretty embarrassing, I just feel like that’s not who we are, that’s not what we’re about. It was difficult while we were out there, we were getting punched and we just didn’t really give them anything back,” he said.

“I feel like whether we’re down 30 or up 30 I feel like that’s what I'm always going to go and do, obviously it was difficult, but I'm going to do that no matter what. Hopefully next game we can all just get into that early, straight away.”

And coach Buford has a steely confidence that will be the case back at Qudos Bank Arena.

“I will be shocked if anybody plays as well as Melbourne did tonight. They were ready for it, they were desperate to get a win and it showed,” he said.

“The Phoenix are a great team, we’ll be ready, we’re not going to lay an egg like this on Saturday, I promise you that.”