Blockbuster Entertainment Rocks Fire Pit

The South East Melbourne Phoenix returned to the Fire Pit on Saturday night winning their first game for the NBL22 campaign.

(Birdman regintied the Fire Pit on Saturday night.)

The pre-game entertainment started with Birdman reigniting the Fire Pit in front of Melbourne fans for the first time since May 2021. The reception to the 16 flame towers set the scene for the unveiling of the new dance crew.

The newly formed Phoenix Flames, presented by Tradie, performed pre-game and during timeouts in front of a group of Phoenix fans ready to cheer on their team.

(Phoenix Flames lit up the court throughout the pre-game and game.)

Throughout the night, the Phoenix faithful were up and about from the pre-game entertainment and throughout the game itself.

“Pretty impressive to come out the way we did, I think our intensity and effort was incredible,” Kyle Adnam said on RSN Breakfast Monday morning. 

Fans had plenty to cheer about with Xavier Munford’s stellar performance and the buzz around Zhou Qi.

“X is incredible, his ability to put pressure on the defence and get his feet in the paint and make really good decisions. And obviously he had his three-ball on the weekend, when he is in that kind of mindset and playing like that, he is a really tough cover.

“We are super excited to have him the group,” Adnam said on Munford.

(Zhou Qi and Xavier Munford were two standouts in Game 1.)

Adnam spoke on Zhou’s height and ability to cover the floor and clean up defensive mistakes and anchor the defence of the group.

“First reality check of it (Zhou Qi’s presence), was when Creeky (Mitch Creek) wrote back to Zhou Qi’s post…I think it went national on the Chinese news, maybe 3 or 4 million eyes on our Instagram page, or something ridiculous like that… but that’s when it kind of set in like, ‘WOW this guy is a proper big deal’,” he said.

The atmosphere at John Cain Arena on Saturday night was electrifying and Phoenix hope to replicate that on Friday night in a back-to-back match up against the New Zealand Breakers.

(Phoenix fans were up and about in the first game for the NBL22 season.)

“There will be adjustments from both sides for sure, first game there is a lot of build up throughout the pre-season, they had a few interruptions as well. 

“We are expecting a big fight back from them, so we got to go out and replicate a few things we did well,” Adnam said on what to expect for Friday night.

(Phoenix return to John Cain Arena in a re-match against the Breakers on Friday night.)

Phoenix are back at John Cain Arena on Friday night, 10 December at 7:30pm in their re-match against the Breakers. Make sure to buy tickets now to experience the fun and excitement first-hand.

For ticket’s to Friday night – CLICK HERE

Kadek Thatcher for Phoenix Media (06/12/21)