How to watch & talking points: Illawarra v SE Melbourne

04 Dec 2025

illawarra hawks

south east melbourne phoenix

Reigning champion Illawarra hosts South East Melbourne in a must-win fixture for both sides.

Illawarra Hawks v South East Melbourne Phoenix
Thursday, December 4, 7.30pm AEDT
WIN Entertainment Centre

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Talking points

Must-win game for champs
Sitting at 4-9 coming out of the FIBA Break, the reigning champions need to start to string some wins together if they are going to keep their Finals chances alive.

That starts with crucial home clashes with South East Melbourne and Cairns, with the latter being Illawarra's bogey team in recent years.

With plenty of firepower in their lineup, and star big man Sam Froling nearing his return, the Hawks are more than capable of pushing for a spot in the top six.

Can Phoenix continue to rise?
The South East Melbourne Phoenix are enjoying their best-ever start to a NBL season at 9-4, with their only four losses coming against Melbourne and Adelaide.

If Josh King's side are going to continue their rise and challenge the top two sides, they need to win games like this against the reigning champs, who knocked them out of Finals contention in NBL25.

And without starting point guard Owen Foxwell and NBL Next Star Malique Lewis, they're going to need other members of their core to step up and shine.

What they're saying

Hawks star Tyler Harvey on their NBL26 season to date:
"Nobody cares about excuses, and at the end of the day, we all are professional basketball players, and we just have to find a way to win games, and I think we will start doing that.

"Adversity can sometimes be a good thing. Obviously, you want to win in spite of adversity, but you play basketball long enough, you're gonna go through some stuff, and how you grow through that and how you come out of that situation is important as well, so I think we've got guys that are locked in and ready to go."

Phoenix's Wes Iwundu on his role on the team:
"Whether it's the bench or starting lineup, I think I'm now finding a good rhythm after being here for some time. I knew it wasn't going happen overnight, but this is just my game being itself.

"I'm feeling more comfortable with the team, with the guys, and being put in different positions to help the team win. That's what I do. And I'm just happy to be doing it with these guys and showing everybody what I'm capable of.

"My favourite role on the basketball team is to do everything. And with that comes defence, offence, playmaking. Just being that guy that guys can rely on to, my teammate go down, recover for him. Just being everyone on the floor, making that type of impact all throughout the game."