Preview: Adelaide v SE Melbourne (Round 12)

When: 5.30pm (AEDT), Saturday 24 December

Where: Adelaide Entertainment Centre  

Broadcast: ESPN; Foxtel; Kayo; Sky NZ

Who won the last time?

South East Melbourne 102 (Creek 24, Kell 20, Williams 18) d Adelaide 84 (Franks 18, Marshall 15, Dech 10, Johnson 10) – Round 10 at John Cain Arena

The 36ers fell apart mentally in this game, the progress they’d seemingly made since Craig Randall’s departure evaporating as South East Melbourne ran up 102 points at 61 per cent inside, barely troubled by a defence that forced just five turnovers for the game. Mitch Creek was near-unstoppable while Trey Kell and Alan Williams continued their dominance over the 36ers. For the vanquished, only youngster Nick Marshall provided any real resistance.

What happened last game?

That was Adelaide’s third-straight loss by a combined 45 points, but they turned things around in Round 11 by spanking the hapless Bullets, then fighting through all sorts of JackJumper physicality before running clear in the final term. South East Melbourne have now won five of their past six to move into third place, overcoming some serious injury blows from their double-OT win over Sydney to make light work of Brisbane on Wednesday.

What’s working?

CJ Bruton – Adelaide were fouled 14 times in Monday’s third quarter and their frustrations became clear as they drew just three whistles, but coach Bruton rode anyone who pestered the officials, demanding they huddle up and move on. CJ kept his men focused, asked them to up their own physicality, and in the final term they were getting away with infringements that helped fuel their running game. That aggression must be their MO moving forward.

Mitch Creek – Antonius Cleveland was the key in that final term as he shut down Milton Doyle. Will coach Bruton send him to Creek in a cross-match from tip on Saturday, given Mitch has scored 75 points at 57 per cent in his past two games, and 25.0ppg in his past 14? Or does Cleveland dog Trey Kell’s important playmaking in the absence of Gary Browne, and Robert Franks gets trusted to apply some better defensive clamps on Creek than last time?

What needs stopping?

Heads down, bums up – The Phoenix are capitalising on the amount of bail-out basketball available to penetrators, averaging an astonishing 30.8 free throws in their past 10 games as they attack via penetration and post – Creek and Williams ranking first and fourth for FTA. Adelaide give up just 16.6 fouls and 18.3 free throws in wins – but 19 fouls and 27 free throws against SEM – so they must use their length to wall up as a team inside without attracting whistles, then make some of the Phoenix lesser lights beat them from outside.  

Feast or famine – While SE Melbourne are 11-4 since the debut of Browne and Kell, something’s not quite right when they’ve lost to Melbourne 110-85, New Zealand 110-84 and United again 92-76 in that spell. When things go wrong they go really wrong defensively, leaking 104ppg on 55 per cent shooting and forcing only 9.7 turnovers in those defeats. With no Browne, Williams, Zhou Qi or Ryan Broekhoff on Christmas Eve, and Ian Clark in uniform for Adelaide, they need good ball security and good d-trans from tip-off.

Who’s matching up?

Kai Sotto v Dane Pineau – Sotto starting makes sense. He can drop defensively and protect the paint while Adelaide’s athletic perimeter crew get up-and-in and fight over screens. The big Filipino was +25 as a starter in Round 11, notching 22 points, 11 rebounds and three swats in 36 minutes. With Qi and Williams out, will it be the savvy Dane Pineau trusted to keep Sotto off the rim, or will Reuben Te Rangi man the middle in a more mobile line-up?

Sunday Dech v Trey Kell – Even on an ailing ankle, Kell was huge as SEM put Brisbane to the sword, accumulating 17 points, 10 boards, six assists, two steals and just one turnover as he helped control the offence in Browne’s absence. He’s played 70 minutes since Sunday though and Adelaide must wear him down, which could mean Dech in his grill full court to prevent him getting rhythm pull-ups and making composed decisions on penetration.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bucket and 1?? <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/TF4hOdtE0Z">pic.twitter.com/TF4hOdtE0Z</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1605508365689524224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s saying what?

Ian Clark stepping out for the first time is exciting for Adelaide fans, but if their team was performing like they did last time against the Phoenix, he might just be another deck chair on the Titanic.

This 36ers team has had a habit of breaking down when things got tough and they couldn’t get the game on their high-octane terms.

Their second-half comeback win over Cairns gave a brief glimpse of what was possible, and Monday’s backs-to-the-wall victory over a tough Tasmanian side was first class.

“Tassie came back and punched us, like we know they would, but we just punched them back and finished the game out,” Antonius Cleveland explained succinctly.

The JackJumpers peeled off a 27-15 run in 10 minutes bridging three-quarter-time as they grinded Adelaide’s offence to a halt with their physicality.

Where the 36ers of previous rounds may have fallen away, the Round 11 version found a way to get back into the open court and set the AEC alight, and that was through their defensive aggression.

“I think switching down the stretch threw a different look at Tassie,” Cleveland said

“I don’t think they were prepared for it, which kept us up and aggressive, up-tempo and playing off of the crowd.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The moment arrives, so does AC ?<br><br>Just like that, we&#39;re tied again!<br><br>Catch the ending of this <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> clash live on ESPN via Kayo Sports + Foxtel ? <a href="https://t.co/xpWaebg6PR">pic.twitter.com/xpWaebg6PR</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1604780570717757442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Sixers looked like a team with heart, character and a style of play that suits their pieces. If they can maintain that rage, then it’s the perfect time to add a valuable piece in Clark.

“A new player coming in is the Christmas present I wanted,” coach CJ Bruton said.

“His ability to be a great leader, we all know he can score the ball and the way guys can come in seamlessly and impact not only a league, but a club and organisation the way he did not only in Sydney.

“You go back to their struggles before he got there, that tells you the type of person he is.”

Indeed, the Kings were 14-2 with IC in uniform, compared with 10-7 across the rest of the season, the NBA champion spreading the floor for Xavier Cooks, easing the playmaking load on Jaylen Adams and just doing whatever his team needed.

“He’s a tough cover because I think he is a smart player and he knows when to pick his moments,” Mitch McCarron said

“He can be an aggressive scorer but at the same time he can be a facilitator, he might play a slightly different role for us than what he did in Sydney, but at the same time his IQ is going to help us.”

The moment is now for Adelaide. The Phoenix are without four key players, CJ Bruton’s men have won two on the bounce and with another home date with Brisbane coming up, they can head into New Year’s Eve in Cairns with a 10-8 record if they take care of business.

Business is booming for SE Melbourne’s medical staff, and that means Simon Mitchell’s men will be looking to make this a grind, rather than a Christmas Eve date for dashers.

“Adelaide is a team we saw the other night against Brisbane that once they get free flowing in the open court they are very dangerous,” Mitchell said.

“We played them a week-and-a-half ago and we were able to slow them down, so the intent will be to slow them down in transition.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The bucket that got us over the line. <a href="https://twitter.com/RTeRangi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RTeRangi</a> ?????? <a href="https://t.co/YNySET18Bz">pic.twitter.com/YNySET18Bz</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1604353438074040322?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The good news for Phoenix fans is their support crew got plenty of practice early in the season when the starting five was decimated by injury, and they’ve showed the benefit of that in the past two games.

Dane Pineau, Kyle Adnam, Junior Madut, Grant Anticevich, Reuben Te Rangi and Owen Foxwell combined for 73 points, 38 rebounds and 25 assists in that pair of wins, repaying coach Mitchell’s faith.

"A tremendously gutsy performance. We had guys stand up,” Mitchell said post-game in Brisbane.

“Kyle comfortably slipped into that starting five, I thought Junior Madut had some good minutes, Grant Anticevich, when he had his moments, was very productive.

“Foxy was not as good as he was in the Sydney game, but he came in and provided some relief and solid minutes. Everyone is answering the bell, and that's important for us.”