Heartland Hustle Blitz Edition

HEARTLAND HUSTLE

The South East Melbourne Phoenix kick off their pre-season campaign tomorrow night in Melbourne against the Sydney Kings.

After losing in the NBL semi-finals the Phoenix are gearing up for a big year after keeping the core of the team and adding exciting pieces in Chinese superstar Zhou Qi and import guard Xavier Munford.

PHOENIX LATEST

Cam Gliddon will suit up and play minutes for the first time since game 3 of last season’s semi-finals series.

Gliddon injured his hip in the back half of last season and bravely played through pain for the remainder of the regular season and finals before going under the knife in July.

“I scrimmaged yesterday a little bit this week, and it’s getting better. We’ll look at it Saturday morning and see where it’s at,” Gliddon said.

“We’re so far ahead of where we were last year, were really looking forward to beating up on some other teams, not just each other.”

Phoenix assistant Judd Flavell will take the reins and coach the team on Saturday night.

“I think every assistant coach wants to one day be a head coach. I had that experience in the NZNBL a few years back and enjoyed that," he said. “I’m looking forward to the challenge. For me it becomes about filtering input from the coaching team and feeding that into the players."

OPPOSITION SCOUT

In the off-season The Kings lost Casper Ware, but retained big man Jarell Martin. They have added some quality with both Makur Maker and Matur Maker signing in the off-season, along with imports Jaylen Adams and RJ Hunter.

With a fit and healthy Xavier Cooks they present a significant challenge for the Phoenix.

A new coach for the Kings, their fourth in as many seasons, Chase Buford leads his team for the first time.

“He’s been great, and he’s definitely a players’ coach,” Shaun Bruce said of Chase.

“He’s going to give guys a lot of confidence to just go out there and play, which is when I’m at my best, but I think a lot of guys are going to have great seasons because of that.”

“He’s brought a lot of energy, and to have a full preseason with Chase and to understand how he wants to play – I think guys are going to be a lot more settled now than we were last year.”

KEY DETAILS

To watch the game sign up to Kayo, all NBL Blitz games are being broadcast free via Kayo Freebies.

TIP-OFF 7:30pm

Where: Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre

Broadcast: Kayo, Freebies.

Phoenix Media (12/11/2021)