Creek's Scathing Self-Assessment

Mitch Creek has delivered a scathing analysis of his own performance in South East Melbourne’s 25-point loss against Tasmania.

Despite a statline of 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists, Creek labelled his game as “absolute bullsh*t”.

“I’ve got to be ten times better … nowhere near good enough,” he said.

“(I was) really disappointed in myself and how I led the team tonight. It’s not how I want to play basketball and how I want to represent the club. I let the young guys down tonight and it’s not acceptable from me.”

Creek said he and Alan Williams set a poor example for their younger teammates, in the absence of injured teammates Gary Browne and Ryan Broekhoff. A knee injury to Trey Kell only compounded the Phoenix’s problems.

“You can look at our points and rebounds all day long, but it’s the bullsh*t effort plays we don’t go back for, we don’t sprint the routes, or we throw it away or there’s a bit of pressure and we’re looking for contact. It was unacceptable from Alan and I,” he said.

Simon Mitchell called upon his bench to play significant minutes with an undermanned lineup, but ultimately it was a game dominated by the JackJumpers.

The Phoenix coach said there were “no excuses” and it was time for the team’s rookies to “step up”.

Conceding 22 offensive rebounds and 25 turnovers, Mitchell said his team’s composure under pressure was “just awful”.

Creek said it was up to he and the team's leaders to take responsibility.

“We can try and put them (teammates) on our backs, but that’s not team basketball. Team basketball is sharing the ball, playing the right way, running your routes and doing all the little things well. We didn’t do the little things well and probably expected other people to do them for us, so we get could get some of the easier ones or better looks,” he added.

“I’m not saying it’s a conscious thing that happens, sometimes it’s the flow of the game and you feel like you compound issues, because it doesn’t really go your way. We negatively hurt ourselves and the others around us by some of the actions Alan (Williams) and I put forward.

“We’ll (Creek and Williams) be hard on each other. We’ve already talked coming off and in the change-rooms. We’ve already addressed it in the ice bath. We’re going to be better.

“Basketball’s a great game, because we’ve got 72 hours and then we’ll go again.”

The Phoenix will hope to regain the services of Broekhoff (hip) on Wednesday night against Sydney, while Gary Browne (calf) is also in the mix for a return, according to Mitchell.

The team will be sweating on the fitness of Kell, who played just 12 minutes on Sunday, before succumbing to a knee injury.