Greer: Phoenix "Looking to Turn a Few Heads"

A 3-0 start to their inaugural season was a dream beginning for South East Melbourne Phoenix last year.

15 months and a global pandemic later, the Phoenix are entering season two this week determined to maintain winning ways throughout the entire campaign with a new-look squad.

The team will travel to Adelaide in the coming days to prepare for two fixtures against the 36ers before heading to Perth to tackle the Wildcats.

With 28 games and an additional eight in the NBL Cup Melbourne Hub in NBL21, a sustainable recipe for success is as important as ever.

Phoenix CEO Tommy Greer and his coaching staff addressed this in the lengthy off-season period, bringing in firepower, athleticism, youth, and defensive tenacity.

“We’re really excited about our squad this year. We feel like we’ve made some really big gains on both ends of the floor,” Greer said.

“Keifer Sykes has EuroLeague experience and is a world class level player. He’ll bring us some defensive edge that I think we were missing last year.

“Ben Moore will play the four and five positions and brings a whole lot of energy as well on both ends of the floor.

“We’re a whole lot more athletic and a whole lot more defensive-minded than we were last year, and we’re looking to turn a few heads.”

But Greer says the team’s focus on becoming harder to score against won’t come at the cost of entertaining basketball.

The Phoenix were the highest scoring team in the league last season and played some of the most exciting games of the year in front of the passionate fans in the Heartland.

He says that eye-catching energy won’t disappear anytime soon.

“We don’t want to lose that entertaining brand of basketball because that’s what drew the fans in and led to a lot of that success we had off the court last year, getting fans in the stands and really good membership numbers.

“We definitely don’t want to lose that offensive firepower but there’s no question we needed to shore up that other end.”

The Phoenix will face Adelaide on Sunday afternoon to tip off their assault on the NBL21 title.

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Phoenix Media (12/01/2021)