SF Game 2 Preview: SE Melbourne Phoenix vs Melbourne United

Sunday, June 13, 2021

The Phoenix were humbled in Game 1, but Mitch Creek and Co know Melbourne has a history of roller-coaster results in semi-finals, and will go in confident they can stop Jock and force a decider.

When: 3pm (AEST), Sunday 13 June

Where: Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

Broadcast: SBS Viceland; ESPN; Sky Sports NZ; SBS On Demand; Twitch

The last time
Melbourne 96 (Landale 26, Hopson 22) d SE Melbourne 78 (Moore 17, Creek 15, Sykes 12), Semi-Final Game 1, Qudos Bank Arena

SE Melbourne didn’t come ready to defend and United made them pay, expertly picking off the weak links and weak moments in the Phoenix D to open up Jock Landale inside and out as they raced to a 20-point half-time lead, and riding the brilliance of Scotty Hopson as they exploded to a 32-point advantage late in the third term. A large portion of SE Melbourne’s offensive execution was good too - all five of their starters shot 50 per cent or better, while bench gun Ben Moore connected at 87 per cent - but their lack of ball security never gave them a chance.

The now
While for some teams such a diabolical Game 1 performance might spell curtains, especially with no home court to return to, the reality is the Phoenix have been Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde all season long, and were humbled by Melbourne in Round 17 before producing a brilliant Throwdown win the following week. Their star players scored at a high clip on Friday night, so if they can cut down on turnovers and improve their ball-screen defence a win is in sight.

Despite United’s outstanding season they’ve only had six wins by more than 15 points, two each against strugglers Adelaide and Cairns, and a pair against the Phoenix. There was obviously a lot to like about Friday’s demolition, their defence proactive and engaged, their offence flowing and selfless, however coach Dean Vickerman would be concerned with the ease SE Melbourne scored inside, a key ingredient in their two Throwdown victories.

The stats

- The Phoenix shot 25-of-41 from two-point range (60%) in Game 1. They were an incredible 22-of-32 at the rim (69%), compared to 10-of-29 from everywhere else on the floor (34%)

- Melbourne had 13 steals and forced 18 turnovers on Friday, with seven Phoenix players having two or more cough-ups. United are 9-1 this season when forcing 14 or more miscues

- Scotty Hopson and Jock Landale scored 48 points on 19-of-25 field goals (76%) and 7-of-9 from deep. Their teammates scored 48 points on 16-of-37 (43%) and 6-of-19 from outside

- SE Melbourne had six defeats by more than 10 points in the regular season, and were 5-1 in the following game. After their 11-point Round 17 loss to United they won their next four games by a combined 78 points, including a double-figure Throwdown triumph

The key men

Mitch Creek – When some Mason Peatling theatrics sent Creek to the bench early with his second foul, the game changed. The versatile Boomer left the contest with his team up two, and when he next touched the ball almost 11 minutes later they were down double digits. No question coach Simon Mitchell was too conservative with his star, as the Phoenix need Creek dominating to beat Melbourne. In two Throwdown wins he has averaged 22.5ppg, 9rpg and 5apg, his ability to negate United’s guard pressure and attack the rim crucial.

Scotty Hopson – The reality of Game 1 was when Hopson was on the floor, SE Melbourne could not get stops, United scoring 57 points and going +22 in their import’s 19:51 on the hardwood, compared to 39 points and -4 in his 20:09 of pine time. While the Phoenix were comfortable guarding the rest of Melbourne’s perimeter players in ball-screen action – even if they didn’t consistently execute it right – they had no answers for Hop, who went 6-of-7 inside and 3-of-4 outside to punish the defence whether it went under or over the pick.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BIG TOP HOP ?<a href="https://twitter.com/Shopson32?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Shopson32</a> is ready for the circus with shots like these.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLFinals?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLFinals</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/7fVBmeKj4n">pic.twitter.com/7fVBmeKj4n</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1403290851170607105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The quotes

It was a telling quote from Keifer Sykes after SE Melbourne’s convincing 11-point win over United in Round 18, frustrated with the commentary on his team’s up-and-down results.

“I'm just so tired of hearing people saying how we’re inconsistent, how bad we are this and that when we’re really good, we’re actually really ____ good and we’re only going to continue to get better,” he said.

“Those guys know that we’re not just no pushover, that we have high-level players.”

Melbourne indeed knew the Phoenix have high-level players, but in Game 1 of the Semi-Final series they pushed little brother around in a bully ball performance that started at the defensive end.

“Our defence was good,” coach Dean Vickerman said.

“I thought we got a lot of deflections that resulted in them turning the ball over and I thought we stuck to our scout well and that resulted in us having a good rhythm down the other end.”

For a team that shot 69 per cent at the rim with Ben Moore particularly effective, the Phoenix failed to fully capitalised on Melbourne’s interior weak points, and that started with a hesitant Keifer Sykes telegraphing his passing intentions on penetration, which was contagious to the rest of his team.

“We talk often about those strike-zone passes where you’ve got to make bounce passes or lob passes, they’ve got a lot of length and they just had a lot of deflections,” guard Kyle Adnam said.

“We made a few errors passing the ball, especially in the pick and roll, it’s just about cleaning it up, it’s the responsibility of the guy with the ball, taking care of the thing.”

At the other end, while much of the talk has centred around how SE Melbourne must focus their defence on Jock Landale, inside the Phoenix planning room the talk will first and foremost be about the possession game.

“Possession is king in the playoffs and they able to get second touches and they grinded us down a little bit,” coach Simon Mitchell said.

“It was one of those games, (Landale) was very, very good, but we have to be able to absorb, you can’t stop everything and you can’t stop everyone on every given night.

“If we’re coughing the ball up or giving up second looks you can’t absorb that and a player playing outstanding basketball.”

Despite the calls to double-team Landale, he only scored 6 points from low-post catches, instead the high-IQ centre fed efficiently on Phoenix mental lapses.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">And we are underway! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TimeToUnite?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TimeToUnite</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JockLandale?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JockLandale</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ybj10oH7XS">pic.twitter.com/Ybj10oH7XS</a></p>— Melbourne United (@MelbUnitedHQ) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnitedHQ/status/1403286240544182274?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“We gave him a couple of good looks from behind the arc which I was a little disappointed in,” Mitchell said.

The signs weren’t good early in that regard, Yanni Wetzell with a small but costly mistake on Melbourne’s first offensive possession.

Despite having two Phoenix defenders on the strong side of the floor, the Kiwi big drifted over to help, failing to read the Landale slip, leaving the Boomers big to bang down the game’s first trifecta.

Mid-quarter, Reuben Te Rangi got hung up on a Landale pick and flailed trying to sell a foul instead of executing the switch. The result? A trademark pocket pass from McCarron and the easiest of twos for a rolling Jock as Moore failed to help.

At the start of the second quarter, with his team only down five, Kyle Adnam gave Shea Ili too much space and chose not to fight over the Landale screen, forcing Wetzell to switch, leaving Jock at the top for another knockdown three.

The Phoenix were murdered on the basis of turnovers and their pick-and-roll fundamentals not making the trip to Sydney, and that’s what their video session and some choice words from Simon Mitchell will likely be focusing on.

Players the class of Landale, Hopson and Chris Goulding will feed on those breakdowns all day long.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Eurosteppin' in the multicultural kits, it's only right.<a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnitedHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MelbUnitedHQ</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Shopson32?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Shopson32</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLFinals?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLFinals</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/xKwZBDGQSn">pic.twitter.com/xKwZBDGQSn</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1403289527800659970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Expect more of a focus on forcing the likes of McCarron, Shea Ili and Sam McDaniel to finish plays, and don’t be surprised if Adam Gibson and Izayah Le’afa spend more time on the floor, with their ability to stay connected and fight over picks a major key to improving the ball-screen defence.

In truth, if they can fix that, the Phoenix probably won’t mind having Landale on the floor, given at the other end they scored 46 points in his 21:36, hitting 65 per cent from two-point range and only being outscored by 3 points.

Contrast that to the troublesome length of Jo Lual-Acuil, with SE Melbourne managing just 32 points in his 22:31, shooting a lowly 45 per cent from inside the arc and being outscored by 18.

Of course, another huge factor in Melbourne’s second unit being so devastatingly effective was the efforts of Scotty Hopson, whose dominant offensive performance – his team scored at a 50% higher rate with him on the floor – overshadowed his efforts to spark United’s transition game.

“His commitment to the defensive end, I loved the way he chased, I loved the way he used his length, rebounded, pushed it, there were so many positive things he did at both ends of the floor,” coach Vickerman said.

“Unbelievable game from him, and I think we’ll continue to see him at a high level throughout the playoffs.”

Given the form of Hopson and Landale, and the fact Goulding scored just 9 points in the rout, there are plenty of reasons for Phoenix pessimism, but coach Mitchell doesn’t have to look far into the past to see significant turnarounds can happen quickly.

“We’ll take some things from that game that I was unhappy with and we’ll work on those from a video session perspective,” he said.

“These guys blew Sydney out last year (in semi-final Game 2) if I remember by 60-odd and lost the series, so it’s never over until it’s over.”