Heartland Hustle: Phoenix Ready for Round 1

The pre-season NBL Blitz is out of the way and it’s time for the real thing for South East Melbourne Phoenix as they prepare for their season-opening clash with New Zealand Breakers.

Here’s a look at how the teams are shaping up

Gettyimages 1353356222 (Simon Mitchell speaks to the team during NBL Blitz.)

Phoenix Latest

South East Melbourne finished the NBL Blitz with a 2-2 record, with one of those losses against the Breakers.
But the Phoenix will go into the game with confidence after beating arch rivals Melbourne United without star centre Zhou Qi.
Zhou is set to be available, despite an ankle injury sustained during his FIBA World Cup qualifier appearance with China, leaving the Phoenix with an almost clean bill of health. Only import Devin Thomas, who is out due to Covid protocols, will miss.

Opposition Scout

It’s been a rough stretch for the Breakers, with four members of the club’s touring party testing positive to Covid-19 last week, forcing players into isolation after their Blitz match-up with Illawarra was cancelled.
They finished the Blitz with a 2-1 record, beating both Sydney and the Phoenix.
Veteran forward Tom Abercrombie will be a notable absentee for New Zealand after failing to recover from a side strain. The Breakers’ captain could miss up to six weeks. Sam Timmins will suit up in his place.

Gettyimages 1355943202 (Xavier Munford is one to watch in his first NBL season game.)

Players to watch

Xavier Munford v Hugo Besson

The veteran, hoping for another NBA chance, takes on the Next Star with a bright future. But Munford and Besson have one thing in common - the two scoring guards will be playing in their first official NBL game on Saturday night.
The pair met in the Blitz and each produced a highlight reel, Munford with 20 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds and Besson with 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting to go with a trio of three-pointers.
Both are long and composed and, while Munford will also have a job on import Peyton Siva, each will go a long way to deciding which team emerges victorious.

The History

Regular season Head-to-Head: 8 games

South East Melbourne Phoenix 5-3 New Zealand Breakers

Last time out - NBL Blitz
Breakers 92-90 Phoenix
Phoenix: Adnam 21, Munford 20, Creek 18
Breakers: Besson 24, Dieng 18, Delany 14
The Phoenix have won each of the past four regular season meetings between the two teams, but it took a remarkable buzzer-beating three-pointer from Finn Delany to seperate them in their November 20 NBL Blitz game.
It was an entertaining affair, with both teams trading blows, before Mitch Creek looked to have iced it when he drained a three-pointer with 1.6 seconds left.
But Delany had other ideas, catching the inbound pass, double clutching and landing his try off the glass in the 92-90 result, which adds a little more fuel to the fire for the Phoenix.

The Quote

“After the disruptions of last season, we are all past that and we just want to get into the real thing. I'd avoid checking out Zhou Qi on google, and buy a ticket, we've never seen anything like him in the NBL before. He's a very special athlete.”
-Phoenix head coach Simon Mitchell (SEN)

“It’s been quite a weird injury apparently, I’ve never seen it and a number of physios and doctors haven’t either, so the timeframe must be a little flexible I guess.”
-Breakers forward Finn Delany on teammate Tom Abercrombie’s injury (SEN)

Gettyimages 1308051028 (Phoenix will play in front of Melbourne fans for the first time since May 2021.)