King: 'Slow burn cost us'

Josh King is hopeful South East Melbourne Phoenix’s sluggish start in Hobart was simply a case of shaking off the cobwebs, rather than a sign of what lies ahead as they enter a demanding stretch of five games in 13 days.

The Phoenix had been flying just over a week earlier, winning three straight and demolishing the Brisbane Bullets by 29 points at home to consolidate second spot at 13–6.

But ahead of their next outing, the club made a bold call, parting ways with Hunter Maldonado and bringing in NBA and NBL championship guard Ian Clark. Nine days later, South East Melbourne returned to action on Monday night away against the Tasmania JackJumpers.

The Phoenix were slow out of the blocks, falling behind by as many as 19 points in the second quarter. They rallied strongly, clawing back to within one point in the final minute, with both Nathan Sobey and Clark having chances to force overtime.

Instead, it ended in a three-point loss. King believes the slow start was the key factor.

"I hope that was our problem and I felt like we played much better in the second half, and much more to the game plan, but the schedule is what it is," King said.

"Maybe it took us a little while to get going, but you have to play these games and they (the JackJumpers) were clearly better for the entirety of the game, that's why they won.

"We've gotta learn from this and be better, and put four quarters together in this league."

King had no issues with his team’s fight, rallying from 19 points down to close within one after Jordan Hunter and Nathan Sobey drilled clutch three-pointers in the final minute.

South East Melbourne also did plenty right, including dominating the offensive glass with 20 rebounds. But the early hole proved too deep, compounded by a tough shooting night at 38 per cent from the field and 9-of-34 from three.

"I just told the guys in the locker room that I'm really pleased with the effort to come back and I would expect our guys to do that, that's what we're about," King said.

"But I just feel like if we could have found a way to start playing better a littler earlier we would have found a way to win the game, but we had good looks and had the right guys shooting them.

"It's a really unselfish team and now we've gotta move on, because we have a travel day tomorrow and we play again in less than 48 hours."

As for Clark, King had no concerns about how quickly he would settle in. With three Championship Series appearances already in the NBL, including the past two with Melbourne United, plus an NBL title at the Sydney Kings and an NBA ring with the Golden State Warriors, the pedigree speaks for itself.

The early signs were encouraging in his first outing. Clark finished with seven points, four assists and two rebounds in 15:26 of court time, and had the ball in his hands late with a chance to send the game to overtime.

"He's going to be fine and he's practiced really one time with us and he's been around for a long time, he's a pro," King said.

"He's going to figure it out and he's caught on really quickly with our philosophies and our tendencies, and I thought he did a great job for it being his first time out."