Dealing with Success Next Phoenix Challenge

After three games on the road in six days yielded two wins on the back of 11 strong quarters, South East Melbourne Phoenix coach Josh King is now keeping an eye on how his team handles a degree of success.

The Phoenix produced a tremendous performance at MyState Bank Arena on Sunday to end the winning streak of the Tasmania JackJumpers, recording a 14-point victory and improve to an 11-10 record.

Matt Hurt had another 20 points, six rebounds and three assists, Jordan Hunter 17 points and eight boards, Derrick Walton Jr 16 points, six assists and three steals, Joe Wieskamp 15 points and six rebounds, and Malique Lewis 14 points, three boards and two assists.

While King would have liked to be returning home from the road trip with three wins, he can't help but be proud of his team who have now won nine of 13 games with him in charge.

"Obviously we would have liked to have won all three, but we'll take two out of three and there's always challenges in a season," King said.

"Now the challenge is how we handle a little bit of success. These guys have stuck together and they've faced a lot of adversity this year, and have gotten themselves out of a big hole.

"Now the challenge is how do you react when now you've got it going a little bit. I think I know these guys pretty well and they will respond, but that's the challenge now. You're playing good basketball and have everybody's attention, and now how do you respond to having success."

The Phoenix might have left NSW with a sour taste after giving up an 18-point third quarter lead to lose to the Sydney Kings on Thursday night, but it shouldn’t diminish the momentum they continue to build.

South East Melbourne closed 2024 with a stirring win against the league-leading Illawarra Hawks to snap their five-game winning run and then put themselves in a winning position in Sydney.

While they were overrun against the Kings, the Phoenix had still played seven strong quarters and then had a point to prove as they arrived in Hobart to take on the JackJumpers on Sunday.

South East Melbourne produced a dominant all-round performance with a 26-16 first quarter and even though Jordon Crawford led the Tasmania fightback in the second quarter, the Phoenix took back control after half-time.

They ended up scoring the 105-91 win to snap a second significant winning streak inside a week and scoring 105 points on a JackJumpers team who had only been conceding 81.8 during their run shouldn’t be sneezed at.

There was plenty to like with what the Phoenix did but ultimately to close three road games in six days against tough opponents with two wins and 11 of 12 quarters where they were outstanding meant King had a lot to be proud of.

"I'm really proud of my team. It was a tough road trip and this is our third game in six days playing against all the power teams in the league, from Illawarra the first place team, Sydney a very talented team and then the defending championship who have won eight in-a-row," King said.

"I'm really proud of the guys for bouncing back after the game against Sydney and I thought for the most part we dominated except there was a small portion in the second quarter. I'm proud of the way the guys played and stuck together, and competed and wanted that one a little bit more."

With the Phoenix having played in Melbourne, Wollongong, Sydney and Hobart in their past four games, King will coach his first game in Gippsland on Saturday.

South East Melbourne will be hosting Brisbane at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium. While King is looking forward to taking the game there, he's more focused on beating the Bullets for the first time.

"I think it's going to be a really fun environment for us to play in on Saturday night, but more important we've got a Brisbane team who we haven’t been able to figure out how to beat this year," King said.

"We need a good week of prep to get ready to play against a really good team on Saturday night hopefully in front of a rocking crowd."

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