Creek Praises Browne Form Reversal

South East Melbourne forward Mitch Creek has praised the return to form of import guard Gary Browne during Wednesday’s win over Tasmania, saying his teammate had been “running around like a headless chook” in the side’s loss to the Bullets.

The clash with the JackJumpers marked Browne’s second game back from a calf injury that kept him sidelined for a month. During that time the Phoenix went on a losing run to drop from third on the ladder to seventh.

Wednesday’s victory has put them back into the finals positions though, and Browne played a crucial role. He dropped 15 points, three rebounds and three assists while only registering one turnover.

“That game against Brisbane … [Gary] was running around like a headless chook at both ends, and we had to talk to him and say ‘hey, just stay composed, stay solid’,” Creek said post-game. “He started to ease into that game, and then he was so good tonight.

“I’m really proud of him. He ran the team well, his communication in the huddles, his defensive intensity and his effort carrying his hands was very high.”

“He’s a really high-level player and he’s been off for a month which is hard for a point guard,” head coach Simon Mitchell added. “There was obviously a little bit of rust there, but that wasn’t there tonight.

“It’s onwards and upwards for Gary … he’ll continue to get better each game.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">?????????? ????????? ?<br><br>? <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> ?? <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/Foxtel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Foxtel</a> <a href="https://t.co/VN6UIRudQu">pic.twitter.com/VN6UIRudQu</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1615647683016019968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Creek, who took home Foot Locker Player of the Game honours for his 23 point performance against the JackJumpers, also saved praise for more of his teammates.

He played a starring role as South East Melbourne jumped out to an early lead, and maintained his quality as Tasmania looked to fight back into the contest.

He played 38 of a possible 40 minutes on the night, and says part of him feels like he shouldn’t be playing as many minutes as he is.

“There’s games where I go home and I go ‘am I playing too much? Are we doing the wrong thing? I want these other guys who work so hard to be rewarded’,” he said.

“Ryan Broekhoff, incredible game. Junior Madut +16, no points, no assists, two rebounds. It’s the efforts of the guys that don’t always show up on the stat sheet. Reuben Te Rangi hits a big three in transition, gets deflections, walls-up. Tohi Smith-Milner has come in game after game.

“When guys are stepping up and making plays in these games and end up getting us across the line … that’s what gets me excited.”

While the victory has moved the Phoenix into the finals positions there’s still plenty to play out in their remaining three games of the season.

Should the emerge with victories over Perth, Cairns and Sydney, they’ll more than likely play their part in the post-season. Pulling off wins against three top five sides will be far easier said than done though.

“We’ve got so much more to play for other than this game,” Creek said. “We’ve got to keep our heads screwed on straight, rest up, recover, travel home and get ourselves ready.

“Perth is going to have that three-guard punch with the Webster brothers and the forever-MVP in Bryce Cotton. They’ve got Manek who’s shooting the skin of the ball, and TaShawn Thomas is playing at a high level.

“They’re all dangerous guys and we know we’re going to have our work cut out for us.”

“At the end of the day we go into every game the same – we go in to win,” Mitchell added.

“I don’t feel relief. I’m looking forward to the next game now.”