Heartland Hustle: Phoenix Look to Fight Through Adversity

Back on the winners’ list by the barest of margins against Illawarra, South East Melbourne gets its chance to find some stronger form against a Sydney Kings side that has tasted victory in three of its past four outings.

The Phoenix, on Monday night, produced their version of the Great Escape against Illawarra, heading home with an 88-87 win thanks to a pair of clutch free throws from iceman Xavier Munford.

The Kings head to John Cain Arena after crushing New Zealand Breakers by 19 points on Sunday and the Phoenix will be acutely aware they have never beaten Sydney on their home floor, the Kings enjoying a 4-0 record over South East Melbourne at JCA.

(Zhou Qi dunks in front of the home crowd at the Fire Pit.)

Key Details

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE 7-3 (2nd) v SYDNEY KINGS 6-7 (6th)

Where: John Cain Arena
When: Thursday, February 10, 7.30pm AEDT
Watch: ESPN, Kayo

Last 5
Phoenix: WWWLW
Kings: LWWLW

The Stats
Phoenix
Points: M Creek, 21.8ppg (#2 in the NBL)
Rebounds: B Ashley, 7.6rpg
Assists: X Munford, 4.2apg
Blocks: Z Qi, 2.75bpg (#1 in the NBL)
Steals: M Creek, 1.8spg (#5 in the NBL)

Kings
Points: J Adams, 20ppg
Rebounds: X Cooks, 9.54rpg
Assists: J Adams, 5.75apg
Blocks: X Cooks, 1.69bpg
Steals: J Adams, 1.75spg

The Teams:

Phoenix

South East Melbourne has been severely undermanned in its past two games with four players - and coach Simon Mitchell - missing through Covid protocols. Xavier Munford is the latest to miss also due to Covid protocols but the good news is Cam Gliddon, Dane Pineau and Reuben Te Rangi could be back in the lineup to face the Kings, providing much-needed support to a starting five that has been forced to play heavy minutes through necessity. Mitchell will still miss, with assistant Judd Flavell to coach his third straight game, after recording his first NBL victory in the win over Illawarra. Captain Kyle Adnam remains in Covid protocols.

(Xavier Munford will miss the game due to Covid protocols.)

Kings

After an up-and-down start to the season, the Kings have hit their straps, with uber-talented import guard Jaylen Adams keying their strong form. Xavier Cooks and Jarell Martin have been a problem for every team they has faced and will ensure Mitch Creek and big men Zhou Qi and Brandon Ashely will have to work hard on the defensive end. Dejan Vasiljevic has also found his shooting form and has ensured the Kings had a ready-made replacement for injured import RJ Hunter.

Players to watch:

Phoenix

Ryan Broekhoff

Rowdy has been the do-it-all man for South East Melbourne this season. While he has struggled from deep, with a shooting form like his, it’s only a matter of time before he breaks out with a big one. It hasn’t mattered, either. He’s one of the Nix’s best defenders, has been hammering the glass - a lazy 16 rebounds against the Hawks - and he opens up the court for the team’s other scorers, because defenders do not dare leave him to help.

(Ryan Broekhoff's defensive game and rebounding have been a massive plus for the team in recent weeks.)

Kings

Jaylen Adams

Adams has been a scoring machine for the Kings and is a key to everything good they do. He’s their best set up man, creates for himself off the dribble and works hard defensively. It’s the first time the Phoenix will se him this season and, with his NBA chops, the duel with fellow import Xavier Munford will be something special to watch.

The History:

Regular season Head-to-Head: 1-8

South East Melbourne Phoenix - Sydney Kings

Last time out

Phoenix 73-84 Kings

Phoenix

M Creek: 22 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals
Z Qi: 17 points, 13 rebounds, 5 blocks
I Le’afa: 13 points, 4 assists

Kings

X Cooks: 19 points, 11 rebounds
A Glover: 15 points
J Martin: 12 points, 13 rebounds

RECAP

South East Melbourne owes Sydney here. In Round 3, way back on December 18, the Kings inflicted the first loss of the season on the Phoenix.

Sydney effectively killed the game off with a first-quarter blitz that gave them a 29-14 lead at the first break.

From there, the Phoenix kept pace, but struggled to make any real inroads into the lead. Still down 19 in the last, Mitch Creek gave an early look at why he is one of the NBL’s MVP fancies, reeling off 13 of the Phoenix’s 27 fourth-quarter points to lead a late rally that would ultimately prove fruitless.

The gun forward led the way with 22 points, while towering Chinese centre Zhou Qi had one of his best games in a Phoenix jersey with a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double that was laced with five blocks on the defensive end. Isaiah Le’afa’s playmaking was a feature, he dealt four dimes and hit a trio of three pointers on his way to 13 points.

(Judd Flavell will coach his third straight NBL game in Simon Mitchell's absence.)

The Quote:

"Our team has a lot of depth so it’s not going to be one guy going out there every night having a great game or this and that. Everybody’s going to switch up. Rowdy started to play well, Creeky’s playing well, Zhou has his moments. We have a deep team and everybody’s going to have their nights, so just want to come in there and just play my role and just try to do whatever I can to help the team win.”
-Xavier Munford on the depth Phoenix enjoys

“I just told him (coach Chase Buford) that I would be better as I get healthier. We've lost key guy after key guy after key guy since the beginning of the season. You can only play with what you've got and I think we are just doing a great job with that next man up mentality. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season now.”
- Jaylen Adams on his excitement for the rest of the season after overcoming injury.

Tickets to the game against the Kings > CLICK HERE

Phoenix Media (09/02/2022)