Preview: Cairns vs South East Melbourne - Round 12, NBL24

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Can a depleted South East Melbourne get its season back on track, or will the Snakes continue their climb up the ladder?

Friday, December 22 at 7:30pm AEDT | Cairns Convention Centre

Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo Sports | International viewership details
Box scores: Download the free NBL App

Cairns’ home clash against the Phoenix has been confirmed to be going ahead following flooding to Cairns airport. The NBL released a statement on Tuesday stating the game would continue as planned, following the re-opening of the airport.

Taipans head coach Adam Forde has called on the Cairns community to stay together in the wake of tropical cyclone Jasper, following last week’s win over Brisbane.

Mitch Creek is expected to miss the next 2-3 games for the Phoenix with a knee injury, and Derek Rucker has called on Gary Browne to step up and lead the team in the captain’s absence.

Abdel Nader made his first competitive appearance in almost two years in the Phoenix’s heavy defeat to Illawarra last week.

Cairns
102-101 win over Brisbane
82-111 loss to New Zealand
116-101 win over Adelaide

South East Melbourne
72-100 loss to Illawarra
78-106 loss to Melbourne
104-94 win over Sydney

Sam Mennenga
New Zealand-born big man Sam Mennenga crashed and bashed his way to a near season-best performance in Cairns’ one-point win over Brisbane last week, and the fact he played so well against the Bullets’ three-headed post monster of Tyrell Harrison, Aron Baynes and Rocco Zikarsky speaks volumes of the 22-year-old’s ceiling.

After he set the NBL alight with 17 points in his season debut back in Round 1, Mennenga has struggled for consistency. He’s had four games where he’s scored in double-digits, but he’s also had three-games where he’s logged fewer than 10 minutes.

Adam Forde has continued to tinker with his rotation, and the fact there are four players in Mennenga, Sam Waardenburg, AK Gak and Josh Roberts who are capable of playing the center spot means competition for minutes is perhaps more fierce at the five than anywhere else in the Taipans’ rotation.

He’s played 19 and 29 minutes in his past two games, and with the challenge of Alan Williams looming, can he continue to establish himself as Forde’s go-to paint enforcer?

“I enjoy those battles. I think I’m built for is so I embrace it ... my teammates have faith in me, they yell at me for turning down threes and ‘Fordey’ yells at me for turning down threes.” – Sam Mennenga following the win over Brisbane.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sam Mennenga is built different ?<br>AND ONE from the rookie!<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/UL92p26DLJ">pic.twitter.com/UL92p26DLJ</a></p>— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1721006584049156366?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Gary Browne
The news of Mitch Creek’s injury just seems to be the latest stage of a repeated nightmare for South East Melbourne. Key players seem to have gone down at crucial times in the season in almost every season of the club’s existence, and they’ve struggled to accommodate for the loss.

Last season a series of niggling injuries to Gary Browne prevented him from truly hitting his stride, and now Derek Rucker has earmarked the Puerto Rican guard as the crucial cog in steadying a wavering Phoenix lineup.

The 30-year-old has already played just five fewer games than he did in the entirety of last season and has increased his points and assists per game, and across the board shooting percentages, to indicate a higher level of offensive threat in NBL24 than NBL23.

Browne is obviously not going to be chipping in at power forward in the absence of Creek, but this team now needs someone to step up and lead alongside Alan Williams – and who better than a veteran international floor general?

“They’ve just got to lift, and in particular it’s got to be Gary Browne. Gary Browne has got to be the one who drives this thing. We can’t expect much from Abdel Nader, he’s only just getting here and he hasn’t played a lot of basketball as it is. Now it’s up to Browne.”- Derek Rucker on NBL Now.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Who's stepping up for the Phoenix? ?<br><br>With Mitch Creek sidelined for up to two weeks, Derek Rucker has named Gary Browne as the <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SEMelbPhoenix</a>'s key player over the Christmas period ??<br><br>Read more → <a href="https://t.co/Wm42skgeNC">https://t.co/Wm42skgeNC</a> <a href="https://t.co/KCZ1fL3YQk">pic.twitter.com/KCZ1fL3YQk</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1737301191401570350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Tahjere McCall vs Ben Ayre
Two of the most vocal players in the NBL are set to go head-to-head in what not only looms as an entertaining out of play matchup, but a crucial head-to-head battle on the court.

Aside from calling on Gary Browne to step up in the absence of Mitch Creek, Derek Rucker named Ben Ayre as one of the Phoenix’s most consistent players off the bench this season, and the former MVP said Ayre should start alongside Browne at the shooting guard position.

Ayre and Illawarra’s Gary Clark got right into a physical battle when the ball was out of play last week, and Tahjere McCall loves to speak with his actions against defenders he may or may not have taken umbrage with in the past.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Things are getting heated in Traralgon ?<br><br>Catch the second half live on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/lLpIFLUJ40">pic.twitter.com/lLpIFLUJ40</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1735926684581609551?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

McCall is coming off a less polished performance than his recent miraculous run of form, but has still been an explosive offensive presence in recent games, while Ayre is statistically the second-best three-point shooter to have taken more than 15 attempts this season. He’s shooting 49 per cent from 49 attempts.

Both players have showcased the ability to be a game-changer for their side, and they both love to let opposition fans know when they’re heating up.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tahjere McCall is shooting the ball at a high clip. <a href="https://twitter.com/alantwilliams?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@alantwilliams</a> explains what has changed with his game.<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLOvertime?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLOvertime</a> on ESPN via Kayo <a href="https://t.co/bN0k1ojnrd">pic.twitter.com/bN0k1ojnrd</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1734504169816424508?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The away team has won the last seven games Cairns has featured in, but South East Melbourne has lost 14 of its last 18 away fixtures. Which run of form will reign supreme?

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Sam Waardenburg.