Heartland Hustle: Finals Flame Still Burns At The Fire Pit

An expansion blockbuster awaits South East Melbourne fans on Sunday afternoon when the JackJumpers come to visit.
Tasmania (15 wins, 11 losses) is in fifth place, just ahead of South East Melbourne (13-12) but the Phoenix have an extra game on the JackJumpers.

South East Melbourne needs to topple the JackJumpers and hope they lose to Melbourne United. The Phoenix then need to beat Adelaide, hope Perth (15-10) continues to falter and then defeat the Wildcats in their last game of the season in the Jungle.
Difficult, but not impossible. Stranger things have happened.

Phoenix needs to take care of business and then put their faith in the basketball gods.
Here’s a look at the match up.

(Zhou Qi looking to shoot against the JackJumpers.)

Key Details

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE 13-12 (6th) v Tasmania JackJumpers 15-11 (5th)
Where: The Firepit, John Cain Arena
When: Sunday, April 17, 1pm AEST
Watch: ESPN, Kayo, 10Peach

The Teams

Phoenix
Do-it-all star Ryan Broekhoff remains out for the clash against the JackJumpers as he continues to recovery from a shoulder injury. The good news is three-point marksman Cam Gliddon has recovered from the illness that sidelined him against the Breakers and, despite a minor back complaint, he is a certain starter. Against New Zealand, the Phoenix snapped a three-game losing streak on the back of big performances from Xavier Munford and Zhou Qi and the sparkle of teenage guard Owen Foxwell, who has seized his opportunity. Superstar Mitch Creek is due a big one and will relish the return to the Firepit.

JackJumpers
The first-year JackJumpers will be just as desperate for victory as the Phoenix, as they, too, hunt a top-four spot. Tassie escaped with a win over New Zealand in their last outing, an 88-86 thriller, and head to the Firepit with less than 48 hours between games. While they will still be without long-term injured big man Will Magnay, the tough JackJumpers have been spearheaded by import scoring machine Josh Adams, set-up man Josh Magette and the versatile Jack McVeigh.

(Expect a big game from Mitch Creek against the JackJumpers.)

Last 5

Phoenix: WLLLW
JackJumpers: WWLWW

The Stats

Phoenix
Points: Creek, 20.8ppg
Rebounds: Q Zhou, 6.95rpg
Assists: X Munford, 3.96apg
Blocks: Q Zhou, 2.14bpg
Steals: R Broekhoff, 1.56spg

JackJumpers
Points: Adams, 16.31ppg
Rebounds: Magnay, 5.55rpg
Assists: Magette, 5.96apg
Blocks: Magnay, 2.09bpg
Steals: Magette, 1.23spg

Players to watch

Xavier Munford
Was on a personal one-man mission against the Breakers. Coach Simon Mitchell has urged the star import to make quick decisions and use his speed and athleticism to dominate teams and that’s exactly what he did, pouring in 25 points to go with eight assists, five rebounds and four steals. It was a stunning performance and the Phoenix will need something similar from him to ensure a win over the Jackies.

Josh Adams
Copped early criticism of his play, but the import has adapted to the NBL well and tweaked his play to become the JackJumpers’ most-dangerous scorer. A microwave scorer who can rain it in from deep or get on the rim and throw down nasty dunks, the Phoenix will need to put plenty of time into Adams to curtail his influence.

(Xavier Munford will be looking to match his performance from last weekend against the Breakers.)

The History

Regular season Head-to-Head: 2 games
South East Melbourne Phoenix 2-0 Tasmania JackJumpers

Last Time Out

South East Melbourne Phoenix 83-71 Tasmania JackJumpers

The Numbers

Phoenix
Broekhoff: 18 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals
Creek: 15 points, 5 rebounds
Adnam: 13 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds
Zhou: 11 points, 6 rebounds
Ashley: 10 points

JackJumpers
Adams: 23 points
Magette: 10 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds

(Reuben Te Rangi has been starting in the absence of Ryan Broekhoff.)

Recap

The positive for the Phoenix is they are yet to lose to the JackJumpers in their two previous meetings.
In a dour February clash, South East Melbourne locked down defensively in the second half to pull out a double-digit win at John Cain Arena. With Xavier Munford in Covid protocols, captain Kyle Adnam made the start and contributed 13 points to go with five assists.
He was among five players in double figures as the Phoenix shared the load, led by Ryan Broekhoff, who made his living muscling his way into the paint and getting to the charity stripe, draining 10 of his 11 freebies. The Phoenix held the JackJumpers to just 31 points after halftime, including a miserly 12 in the third. Josh Adams had 23 for Tasmania, but took 18 shots to get there, while Josh Magette was the only other visitor to score at least 10 points.

Quotes

“For us, it’s not so much focus on the getting of the wins, but more of the process and overcoming some of the obstacles that we’ve exhibited all season long. Our control of the game, our finish off the last three-and-a-half minutes of the game, making sure we take care of the defensive boards. We were great against New Zealand with that, we were great at running the floor, we did some of the things that we’ve been struggling with, but we’ve got be able to show that we can do it in consecutive games.”
—Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell on how his side will tackle the last three games of the regular season.

“I think, as a first-year club, the expectations are always low from everyone else, but the reality for us was we wanted to be a finals contending team and I’m sure they’re probably under where they expect themselves to be at. I’m sure they’d like to be in the four right now. They’re a great team that plays hard, they get in the dogfight and get in the trenches early, they hold you and they wrestle you. We respect them immensely, they’re well coached, they’ve got a deep squad of tough guys and we’ve got to go out there and play our best.”
—Phoenix star Mitch Creek on the challenge the JackJumpers pose.

CLICK HERE to secure your tickets for tomorrow 

Phoenix Media (16/04/2022)