Still Scratching the Surface

South East Melbourne Phoenix are sitting second on the NBL ladder but cementing the spot in the top four is still the task at hand for Head Coach Simon Mitchell and the team.

Mitchell joined the RSN Breakfast Show Tuesday morning to discuss the loss to the Hawks on Sunday, the upcoming Throwdown with Melbourne United and the race to the NBL finals.

Phoenix were on the end of a 6-point loss to the Hawks on Sunday, but Mitchell wasn’t upset with the performance of the team even after micro analysing the footage, there was still some good things to come out of it.

(Mitchell speaking to Zhou Qi during Sunday's game against the Hawks.)

“I thought we played well enough to win, just a couple of minutes of madness at the end of the third quarter and then at the start of the fourth and you find yourself on the wrong end of the win/loss column,” he said.

Sunday is a first vs second match when the two Melbourne teams meet for Throwdown XV on Sunday afternoon. When asked about the rivalry between the two sides, Mitchell was more focused on having a full week to prepare and to fix their errors that were made on the weekend.

“You don’t talk about the rivalry so much, it’s more the media asking you a lot about it and that sort things starts getting hyped and pumped up and those sorts of things. In-house we just really getting our ship in order for the game.

“I think the dislike and the real rivalry that exists between us and Melbourne United kind of features more on game day rather than the lead up. The lead up is a bit more scientific, you just trying to put together the game plan, getting in place things you want to achieve,” Mitchell commented.

(Phoenix are sitting second on the NBL ladder.)

Final contentions is the last on Mitchell’s mind as he looks to the rest of the regular season and cementing a top four spot before considering the ramifications of finals.

“It’s a dog-fight at the moment, there is five teams that are virtually level. Melbourne are only a game and a half in front of everybody else, that’s a bad weekend away being back in the pit,” he said.

“We are still scratching the surface in my mind of where I want to be. I feel a little impatient, look I am a coach, I say it to the players all the time. The reality is sometimes it takes the regular season is sort of built up to the crescendo. Sometimes I feel we are taking two steps forward one step back and our record shows it too, we sort spring three wins together then have a loss. I feel we need to develop that consistency and those moments of craziness that we had in the last game and saw again in the Adelaide game as well.”

Mitchell also gave thanks to the Phoenix fans, especially with restrictions still in place limiting how, much contact players and coaches can have with them interacting with fans after games and during the week in the community.

In their inaugural year the Phoenix made a strong connection with the community in the South East, with players spending many hours at schools and local clubs. That work resulted in the loyalty the fans have shown the club through two covid affected seasons, and for that Mitchell is grateful.

(The Phoenix fans have been loyal even with not much contact connecting with the team outside of game days.)

“I’m tremendously thankful for these people that have adopted us, taken us on and have been so true to us and we are looking for that to grow. But at this point of time we just got a great group of people that follow us and they are so loyal and loving,” he said.

Tickets are still available for Sunday's Throwdown - CLICK HERE to secure your seat

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Phoenix Media (9/3/22)