Heartland Hustle: Phoenix to Bounce Back in Throwdown XIX

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South East Melbourne Phoenix have a short turnaround, travelling back from New Zealand Friday morning after a tough loss. Phoenix will hope to re-group and bounce back as they meet cross-town rivals Melbourne United Saturday night for their final home Throwdown for the season.

Melbourne United are coming in after a heartbreaking loss to Tasmania JackJumpers a week ago and will be looking for a win after coming into this game fully rested. 

(Phoenix return to the Fire Pit for Throwdown XIX.)

Key Details
SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 7-6 (4th) v MELBOURNE UNITED 5-8 (8th)
Where: John Cain Arena
When: Saturday, December 3 at 8pm AEDT
Watch on ESPN via Kayo or Foxtel

The Line Up

Phoenix

Phoenix will be without nominated replacement player Tohi Smith-Milner due to family reasons.

Gary Browne and Trey Kell will be game day decisions for tomorrow’s Throwdown, after both players sustained minor ankle tweaks against New Zealand.

Phoenix will be bolstered by the addition of development players Anzac Rissetto and Owen Foxwell. 

United

United will hope to regain Shea Ili who has battled with concussion symptoms in the last couple of weeks.

The Key Match Up 

Alan Williams v Isaac Humphries

Williams has been too much to handle for Humphries in both match-ups this season. The Phoenix big man is averaging 22 points and 14.5 rebounds against United.

Scoring-wise, Humphries has improved with each game but only has five rebounds. United is looking for him to have a more significant impact on the boards.

(Williams notched up his fifth double-double on Thursday night and will look to follow-up his performance on Saturday night.)

The History

Regular Season Head-to-Head:
South East Melbourne Phoenix 5-10 Melbourne United

Last time out – Rd 7, NBL23
Phoenix 84–69 United

Phoenix
Creek 23p
Williams 18p
Browne 16p

United
Tucker 22p
Goulding 15p
Rathan-Mayes 13p

The Difference Makers

Trey Kell

Kell was a big reason for the Phoenix taking the W in Throwdown XVIII, holding Chris Goulding to 13 points while dropping 24 of his own.  

Rayjon Tucker

The self-proclaimed best new import in the league is slowly improving but is a long way from claiming the moniker he gave to himself.  

(Tucker and Kell are ones to watch on Saturday night.)

The Entertainment

Gates Open – 6:30pm

The Tyrepower half-court will be on the Southern Concourse pre-game. Test out your skills before the main event of the Throwdown.

A DJ will be on the concourse to pump you up, along with Birdman and the TRADIE Phoenix Flames.

Visit the wonderful face painting station to add some Phoenix colours to your face.

Thanks to partner Pact Solar, the Sensory Room is back and will remain for the next two games at John Cain Arena. Families who need a quiet space to enjoy the game can enjoy it in a calm area and be supported by trained facilitators.

Staff will be near gate 6 to assist you up to the sensory room.

Make sure you get involved in our Firestarter moment just before tip-off. All Phoenix fans, get off your seats and make some noise as the game starts. Stay on your feet until the band stops playing and sing along. Bring the energy!

At three-quarter time, one lucky fan will get the chance to shoot a half-court shot for a brand-new MG.

If you attend the game and are a Phoenix member, you will get ten entries for the chance to win an MG at the final home game of the season.

How to Get to the Fire Pit

The precinct will be busy on Saturday night with a concert at the MCG. Please plan your trip to John Cain Arena HERE.

The Eastern Car Park has SOLD OUT.

If travelling via public transport, please note buses replace trains on sections of the Pakenham, Alamein, Belgrave, Glen Waverley, Lilydale, Craigieburn, and Upfield lines this weekend. To plan your journey, www.ptv.vic.gov.au

Quotes 

Simon Mitchell

“I guess we need to respond similar from our trip to Perth before playing Melbourne United last time. Certainly, from a defensive stand-point we’ve got to be able to fight over screens much better than that. We’ve got to be able to communicate a whole lot better than that. So if we get those two things right. We have some things there that we expect of each other on any given night which I don’t think we performed well tonight. We’ll go back through the video have a look at those, point them out to where we can be better in those areas and that usually takes care of the rest of our game.”

CLICK HERE to secure your seat for Throwdown XIX

Phoenix Media (2/12/22)