Heartland Hustle: Phoenix Fly North to Tackle Taipans

Just a week ago these two teams last met with the South East Melbourne Phoenix winning their last outing against the Cairns Taipans. The Phoenix followed up with a tough loss to the Adelaide 36ers while the Taipans snatched a 3-point victory over the New Zealand Breakers.

Phoenix go into the last six games of the home and away season hungry to make the top four, while Cairns can still shape the finals by getting some late season wins against higher ranked opposition.

Check out the latest on each team.

(Brandon Ashley played his best game in the Phoenix jersey last game against the Taipans.)

Key Details

CAIRNS TAIPANS 6 – 14 (9th) v SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 12 – 10 (6th)

Where: Cairns Convention Centre

When: Saturday April 2, 8pm AEDT

Watch on ESPN via Kayo or Foxtel

The Teams

Phoenix

Phoenix will see the return of Zhou Qi on Saturday, who missed the Round 17 clash against the Taipans with a minor knee complaint. This will be the first time Cairns will face Zhou since his arrival at the Phoenix, missing the first match up in Round 8 with gastro.

The side will remain without sharpshooter Ryan Broekhoff who is still recovering from a shoulder injury he sustained in Round 15 against United. Lachlan Barker is the nominated replacement player for Broekhoff. Tohi Smith-Milner will also miss with concussion, Tristan Forsyth replaces him in the side.

Taipans

The Taipans will remain without centre Stephen Zimmerman, who has already missed Round 16 and 17 due to swelling in his knee. They will also be without Tahjere McCall, who sustained a hip injury in the last week's game against Phoenix.

Players to Watch

Zhou Qi vs Nathan Jawai

This will be Zhou’s first outing against the Taipans after missing the first match up in Traralgon due to gastro. With Brandon Ashley dominating Round 17’s game, Zhou will be another weapon for the Phoenix, especially if Ashley stays out of foul trouble. Zhou’s ability on both the offensive and defensive ends makes the Phoenix more formidable.

Jawai has been called on multiple times by head coach, Adam Forde to step up for the team. Jawai will have a big role to play with Zimmerman remaining out of the team and the return of Zhou teaming up with Ashley will be a battle in the paint. The test for Jawai is how many minutes he will get in-game, as Forde admitted that he was battling some niggles in their win against the Breakers last round.

(Barker in action a week ago against the Taipans.)

Last 5

Phoenix: LLLWL

Taipans: LLWLW

The Stats

Phoenix
Points: M Creek, 21.05ppg (#2 in NBL)
Rebounds: Q Zhou, 7.11rpg
Assists: X Munford, 3.9apg
Blocks: Q Zhou, 2.06bpg (#3 in NBL)
Steals: R Broekhoff, 1.56spg

Taipans
Points: T McCall, 15ppg
Rebounds: S Zimmerman, 9.63rbg (#1 in NBL)
Assists: T McCall, 5.69 (#3 in NBL)
Blocks: K Pinder, 0.95 bpg
Steals: T McCall, 1.94spg (#3 in NBL)

The History

Regular Season Head-to-Head: 6 – 3

South East Melbourne Phoenix – Cairns Taipans

Last time out – Rd 17, NBL22

Phoenix 86 – Taipans 74

Phoenix
Ashley 25p
Munford 23p
Creek 14p

Taipans
McCall 14p
Machado12p
Pinder 12p

(Munford going for a lay-up last game in his 23 point game in Round 17.)

Recap

The last time out, Phoenix was on the verge of a fifth straight loss, but with their final’s life on the line, they found their early season form and ran our 12 point winners.

That game was Ashley's best for the year, and he was ably supported by Xavier Munford. Munford produced a 17 point first half before Ashley put on a clinic around the rim and finished a career high 25 points, scoring 21 of these in the second half.

The Taipans showed glimpses through Keanu Pinder and captain Scott Machado, but they struggled from beyond the arc, shooting 5-29.

Quotes

"I think we did a pretty good job of containing the ball for a good portion of the game and making it hard for them to get too many second chance points. We gave away a few easy ones and let them get a couple here and there, but we tightened the screws just enough when we needed to. We had that belief, and we did a great job of throwing the ball down low. Zhou Qi and Bash (Brandon Ashley) will be phenomenal again for us this week, I’m certain of it. We kept ourselves out of foul trouble, put them in the position to foul a lot, so we can set our defence, slow the pace down, we will look to do much the same this week.”
-Phoenix forward Mitch Creek on the Round 17 win against the Taipans.

"There was a lot of mistakes in that game and errors and just two teams struggling with injuries and fatigue, and missing bodies. It was just a grind, and it was a real gritty performance…It was obviously good to get a win because wins are far and few in between.”
-Taipans Head Coach Adam Forde after their 3-point win against the NZ Breakers last round.

(Phoenix will be hoping to kick-start the last six games in the home and away season to make the finals.)

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Phoenix Media (1/4/22)