Preview: Cairns v SE Melbourne (Round 14)

Friday, January 6, 2023

The Phoenix need a win to ensure they enter Round 15 in the top six, but toppling the Taipans in Cairns is one of the league's toughest assignments.

When: 4pm (AEDT), Sunday 8 January, 2023
Where: Cairns Convention Centre
Broadcast: 10 Peach; 10 Play; ESPN; Foxtel; Kayo; Sky NZ
LIVE SCORES & STATS

Who won the last time?

Cairns 85 (Pinder 19, Hogg 18, McCall 15, Scott 15) d South East Melbourne 76 (Creek 27, Williams 18, Madut 12) – Round 2 at John Cain Arena, Melbourne

When Mitch Creek and Alan Williams combined for 17 points in 10 minutes to key a 28-13 run and put South East Melbourne 10 ahead in the final quarter, the Phoenix appeared set for a quality win with an undermanned crew, but Keanu Pinder, Tahj McCall and Shannon Scott combined for 19 points on the run home – fuelled by their pressure defence forcing seven turnovers in seven minutes – and DJ Hogg dropped a clutch three to seal a Taipans’ road W.

What happened last game?

The Phoenix fell away late again on Wednesday, producing an outstanding offensive display without playmakers Gary Browne and Trey Kell, but unable to find any defensive answers for DJ Vasiljevic as the Kings ran up 118 points and South East Melbourne dropped to sixth. Cairns piled on 107 of their own to humble Brisbane, grabbing 50 rebounds to 31 as they ran the Bullets out of their own gym to stay hot on the heels of the Breakers in second place.

What’s working?

Playing at speed – Cairns put on a high-speed clinic in Brisbane, scoring 59 points inside the first 12 seconds of their possession, including 36 of their 55 first-half points. Seven different Snakes scored points in early offence, with Sam Waardenburg (15 points), Tahjere McCall (12) and Bul Kuol (10) leading the way. The Phoenix got sucked into Sydney’s speed game at times on Wednesday, something that will be equally as deadly at the Snakepit.

Interior attacks – While many teams fall into the trap of firing long bombs against Sydney’s packed-in defence, the Phoenix attacked the rim in transition, from high ball-screens, wing pick-and-rolls, post-ups and o-boards, outscoring the Kings 72-67 on ‘ones and twos’, the second-straight time they’d pipped the champs in that category. In Round 2 they led the Snakes 67-52 inside the arc, so expect Cairns’ athletes to be challenged regularly at the rim.

What needs stopping?

Mitch Creek – When you talk Phoenix rim raids, you’re talking Creek. Every Kings player knew the World Cup Boomer would be at the cup all night, but he still went 7/10 in the paint en route to 32 points and five assists. Mitch also went 2/3 on mid-ranges and 4/8 from distance, highlighting just how hard his full package is to guard. He went 12/15 in the key against Cairns in Round 2, and with Pinder still out, will McCall take this job from tip-off?

Opposition perimeter studs – Vasiljevic 42 points, Milton Doyle 25, Nathan Sobey 31, Derrick Walton 45 and Rayjon Tucker 33. That’s five of South East Melbourne’s past six games giving up 35.2ppg to leading perimeter weapons, and worryingly they’ve shot 59 per cent inside and 26/42 from outside, while dishing 5.2 dimes and getting to the foul line 34 times. Missing Browne and Kell hurts, but the Phoenix team defence must do a better job of taking something away, and against McCall and the Taipans, that starts with interior catches.

Who’s matching up?

DJ Hogg v Ryan Broekhoff – Hogg’s past five games have delivered 19.2ppg on three triples per night and 55 per cent inside, while also grabbing 6.2 boards and dealing 2.8 dimes. DJ is the Taipans’ plus/minus leader, and while he’ll be lining up at power forward with Pinder sidelined, will Broekhoff take this job in a crossmatch that allows Creek to roam more defensively and use his strength and athleticism to counter McCall’s basket raids?

Shannon Scott v Kyle Adnam – In four games since Gary Browne went down, Adnam has stepped up with 14.3ppg, shooting 55 per cent from two-point range and going 17/20 from the foul line as opposition teams cut off his passing lanes and dare him to be a scorer. Scott has the ability to ride him over ball-screens to make that job tougher, and when it’s not him then Kuol or Ben Ayre will slot in. Adnam’s composure will be a key on Sunday.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wild Kyle having himself a game! ?<br><br>2??0?? points so far for the co-captain <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/N0Lqb2c5Tt">pic.twitter.com/N0Lqb2c5Tt</a></p>— South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1610576698327846912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s saying what?

There’s no shame in losing to the Kings in Sydney, especially when missing three starter-level players, but it was the ‘how’ and not the ‘why’ that didn’t sit right with Mitch Creek after DJ Vasiljevic rocked them for 42 points.

“They were up 20 and they put him in for the last three minutes for a reason, we've got to be smarter as a ball club, we can’t let that shit happen,” Creek said.

“If you compete at a high level that’s just not good enough and that’s the one thing that’s pissing me off right now, that we let him get that (40-point) milestone which we knew he was in there for.”

It once again exposed a soft defensive underbelly that has seen opposition stars rack up the points on SE Melbourne in recent weeks, and coach Simon Mitchell said it’s the little things that are adding up against the likes of Vasiljevic.

“We missed a couple of coverages and that’s the thing we’re suffering with, we've got multiple kids out there in their first season and they get a match-up like that,” he said.

“Then we get a couple of fouls on Rowdy so he can’t guard him, and we had a couple of veteran guys out there who had a chance and had a hand down and let him shoot over the top … and that got him going. It was really disappointing, basketball 101 stuff to be honest.

“We've got to be much better at that, especially the veterans on the team.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The celebration speaks for itself ?<br><br>Catch all the action live on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> via <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://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> <a href="https://t.co/uvvqd7CUX9">pic.twitter.com/uvvqd7CUX9</a></p>— Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1610566946642067456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

While Gary Browne and Trey Kell III are a good chance to return for SE Melbourne’s next game against Brisbane, a loss in Cairns could see them outside the top six by Tuesday.

They're going into the Snakepit on the back of consecutive losses totalling 41 points, where they’ve been uncharacteristically smashed on the glass, giving up 37 offensive boards and grabbing just 57 per cent of d-boards, down from their season average of 75 per cent.

“We were the number one rebounding team in the league, and now we've got to be able to, with smaller bodies, find a way to continue to compete on the boards, I'm not sure we were quite there tonight,” Mitchell said in Sydney.

While it’s a massive challenge with key men down, the Taipans have taken that in their confident stride, going 3-0 without Keanu Pinder and then rocking the Bullets sans KP and head coach Adam Forde.

“It just goes to show the process, guys are trusting what we do, that was pleasing,” assistant coach Kerry Williams said.

“It wasn’t me, it was the guys, truly it was Tahj, he’s been our on-court leader and he’s been our emotional leader and he’s been able to keep this group together and the group’s just fun.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hustle plays ?<br>Tahjere gets the steal and lays it in with ease!<br><br>? <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cairnstaipans</a> | ? <a href="https://twitter.com/espn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@espn</a> <a href="https://t.co/pO3mOcBi1q">pic.twitter.com/pO3mOcBi1q</a></p>— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1610923416101752833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

For McCall, it simply showed the culture the Taipans club is building is sustainable beyond key personnel.

“For us to perform like that, and show what Fordey has built in the culture through him, through me, through the guys that have been here, it shows change and where Cairns has been and where we’re trying to go,” McCall said.

“The team is buying into the culture and it’s building something special and it’s fun to be a part of. I don’t think I've been part of too many teams where from the coaching staff to the manager to the (fitness staff), we all get along, that’s rare in a professional team where money is involved.”

A win will put the Snakes within 1.5 games of the first-placed Kings, and McCall simply wants his team’s foot to the floor at the defensive end against the undermanned Phoenix, knowing the points and wins will follow.

“We've got a goal and an agenda we’re on and that’s all that matters,” he said.

“I told the guys the next step of our team is when you’re up putting teams away, that’s what championship teams do, that’s what winning teams do.

“If you look at it, everybody didn’t play their best basketball but we played together, especially defensively, that’s how we’re going to win games.

“For us to keep our defensive edge and our rebounding edge that meant a lot to us, we try to build on that every game.”