Mitch Creek Named Phoenix MVP for NBL23

South East Melbourne Phoenix co-captain Mitch Creek has won the Phoenix's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for NBL23.

Creek was humbled to be recognised as the club's MVP.

"A club MVP is pretty cool; I know since I've been here, it's been a few years in a row now, but I think I am just excited for where this club has grown from and where it is now. I think we are getting better every year, I think the league is getting better every year, and I think we are staying with it. I feel like this is very nice, but at the end of the day, it is an individual award, and I am here for team success," Creek said.

(Creek has won this season's Phoenix MVP.)

Creek was also a finalist for NBL's MVP award and is part of the All-NBL First Team for the NBL23 season.

Creek had a career-best season, averaging 23.4 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 2.9 APG on 50% from the field.

"The season I had was a positive one, but for me, it's always about team; it's always about how deep into the finals we go. It's great to have a successful personal season, but individual seasons aren't why I am here. If I were doing that I would have gone out and shot way more shots and been a lot more selfish, but that's not me.

"It's about the team; it's about what we can do to grow from this; for me, I'll reflect on my season, and I'll put a lot of time and effort into watching a lot of the games, looking where I could improve, areas we can improve as a team. I'll take the individual season and build on that, clean up the gap between my best and worst and try to shorten that even more and hopefully a bigger and better season next year," Creek reflected.

(Creek is a fan favourite at the Phoenix.)

Creek helped his team finish 5th place at the end of the regular season with a 15-13 record, which took the team to the play-in qualifier.

It was a year of milestones for Creek, notching up NBL game 300 in Round 8 against the Hawks and his 4000th NBL career point against the Kings in Round 11.

His best performance for the season came in the one-point double overtime win over the Sydney Kings in Gippsland, where he recorded a career-high 46 points and 10 rebounds in front of a sold-out local crowd.

Creek led the league with an average of 8.4 field goals made per game and was second in the league for points per game with 23.4, falling only 0.1 behind Wildcats' import Bryce Cotton.

"I think he's had a remarkable year, I think he's been fantastic and quite clearly was one of the best players in the competition this season," said Phoenix CEO Tommy Greer.

Phoenix Media (17/02/23)