Heartland Hustle: Phoenix Reload to Fight Back Against the Bullets

The sunny state visits Melbourne for a hot reception at the Fire Pit on Saturday when the Brisbane Bullets come to town.

South East Melbourne stumbled out of the blocks against Melbourne United on Thursday night before a remarkable 21-0 run had them in the box seat to claim back-to-back Throwdowns. But United just pipped them at the post as the offence went cold late.

(Phoenix will be looking to bounce back from there loss to United on Thursday night.)

The Phoenix will have a quick chance to atone and get back on the winners' list against a Bullets side that will be smarting after a last-second loss to the Sydney Kings when the game was all but over.

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

Key Details

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE 8-5 (3rd) v BRISBANE BULLETS 5-8 (7th)
Where: John Cain Arena
When: Saturday, February 19, 5.30pm AEDT
Watch: ESPN, Kayo

The Teams

Phoenix
Finally, a full, healthy roster for coach Simon Mitchell to deploy - touch wood. After a wretched run with players in and out of Covid protocols, the Phoenix will be at full strength for their clash with the Bullets.

Xavier Munford will be better for the run after he got his feet back under him against United, while Cam Gliddon, who was rocked by Covid, has also had the chance to shake it off and should be in line for more minutes in this one.

(Munford has a game under his belt after coming back from Covid protocols and will hope to have more minutes against the Bullets.)

Bullets
The Bullets have had their own injury issues, chiefly Boomers star Nathan Sobey, will remain out of the Bullets side due to a knee injury and will be replaced by Taane Samuel.

The Bullets have lost four of their last five, but pushed the Kings all the way and will be no easy beats.

Players to Watch

Zhou Qi v Chuanxing Liu

The battle of the Chinese twin towers will be must-see TV all over the world, with millions of fans in the orient set to be glued to it. For those playing at home, it is 441cm of basketball steeple combined as two of the NBL’s tallest men go head to head.

Zhou is a key piece for the Phoenix who did not play in the last match up between these two teams, so anticipation is high for when Liu is eventually unleashed by the Bullets.

(Zhou missed the last outing against the Bullets.)

Last Five
Phoenix: LWLWL
Bullets: LLLWL

The Stats

Phoenix
Points: M Creek, 21.46ppg (#2 in the NBL)
Rebounds: Z Qi, 7.18rpg
Assists: X Munford, 4.27apg
Blocks: Z Qi, 2.45bpg (#2 in the NBL)
Steals: R Broekhoff, 1.774spg

Bullets
Points: L Patterson, 18.08ppg
Rebounds: R Franks, 8.31rpg
Assists: J Cadee, 4.31apg
Blocks: T Harrison, 1.33bpg
Steals: J Cadee, 0.92spg

The History

Regular season Head-to-Head: 4 - 5 

South East Melbourne Phoenix -  Brisbane Bullets 

Last time out

Phoenix 88-73 Bullets

Phoenix
M Creek: 22 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
K Adnam: 16 points
X Munford: 14 points, 5 assists
R Broekhoff: 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals

Bullets
L Patterson: 26 points, 5 assists
N Sobey: 9 points
D Deng: 8 points, 11 rebounds

(Ashley passing the ball in the last time Phoenix met the Bullets.)

Recap

The Phoenix put together a huge second quarter and then locked Brisbane up in the last to score a 15-point blow out win over the Bullets in their trip to Nissan Arena in late January.

After a tight opener, Phoenix led by three points at the first break, but the afterburners kicked in and they extended that to double digits at halftime.
The foot came off the pedal a little - something Simon Mitchell is hoping his side will continue to clean up - and they allowed the Bullets to get back into it in the third.

But there were no mistakes in the last, in perhaps South East Melbourne’s best defensive display of the season, as they held the Bullets to just six points for the quarter, while dropping 17 at the other end.

Mitch Creek was at his efficient best, potting nine of his 13 attempts from the field on his way to 22 points while Xavier Munford set the table with five assists.

Creek and Ryan Broekhoff combined for six steals as Rowdy also ripped down seven rebounds to go with his 11 points in a solid all-round performance.

Most impressive, the Phoenix defence shut down gun Bullets import Robert Franks, who had just two points and did not make any of his six field goals, although Lamar Patterson was a constant thorn, pouring in a game-high 26 points.

(Creek and the rest of the side of Phoenix will be hoping to replicate their win against the Bullets the last time they met.)

The Quote

“We’ll be OK, we’ll be ready. I think the last three weeks has put us in good stead for these quick turnarounds. We’ve survived. Hopefully we get the win (against Brisbane) and then we start to lock in with a little bit more of a regular schedule.”
-Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell on how his side will cope with another short turnaround between games

"There’s nothing really to dwell on. If you dwell too much, it can be a snowball effect, so our focus is Saturday night in Melbourne."
-Bullets import Robert Franks on how the Bullets are approaching the game

Tickets are still available for the game against the Bullets > CLICK HERE

Phoenix Media (18/2/22)