R21 Preview: Brisbane Bullets vs SE Melbourne Phoenix

Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Mitch Creek and the Phoenix are in the playoffs, now they're playing for third place, while Nathan Sobey and the Bullets want to send Andrej Lemanis off with a win.

When: 7.30pm (AEST), Tuesday 8 June

Where: Nissan Arena, Brisbane

Broadcast: ESPN; Sky Sports NZ; SBS On Demand; Twitch

The last time
Brisbane 91 (Sobey 22, Cadee 19, Johnson 13) d SE Melbourne 84 (Creek 28, Adnam 20, Broekhoff 12), Round 21, Cairns Pop Up Arena

It looked like this might be another Phoenix rout, ala their Round 19 demolition of Brisbane, as they jumped 10 ahead in the opening term. Mitch Creek was unstoppable with 16 points and 3 assists in the first half and his team still led by seven with 90 seconds until interval. But Lamar Patterson took charge, scoring or assisting Brisbane’s first four buckets after the break, and when Nathan Sobey, BJ Johnson and Jason Cadee combined for 25 points over the final seven minutes of the third, the Bullets had skipped away and wouldn’t be headed.

The now
While SE Melbourne’s wobbles and Brisbane’s late-season renaissance threatened to make this a final-day playoff for fourth spot, the Phoenix withstood some nervous moments in Auckland to secure a five-point win and their first-ever playoff spot. Now the equation is simple, beat the Bullets and claim third place and a match-up with the Cotton-less Cats.

On the final day of NBL20, Brisbane faced the seemingly impossible task of crushing Cairns by more than 34 to move into fourth place. Remarkably, they produced a 39-15 first period and a 61-43 second half to achieve that, only for Melbourne to break their hearts the next day. Their only motivation this time around is to send coach Andrej Lemanis off in style.

The stats

- The Phoenix have failed to reach 90 points in their past three games. They are 4-11 this season when scoring under that mark

- SE Melbourne have averaged 97ppg in their two wins over the Bullets, compared to 83ppg in their two defeats of this season series

- Over the past eight rounds, Brisbane have averaged 94.4ppg in their seven wins, with no score below 90. They’ve averaged 78.6ppg in their seven losses, with just two scores above 82

- The team that has won points in the paint has won all four contests in this season series. The Bullets have shot 51-of-84 (61%) from two-point range in their wins, while SE Melbourne have made 53-of-92 (58%) from inside in their Ws

The key men

Keifer Sykes – In his past five losses with the Phoenix, Sykes has averaged 6.4ppg at 31 per cent and committed 12 turnovers. In his past five wins those numbers improve to 20.4ppg at 49 per cent and 6 turnovers. Interestingly, in those wins he averaged 10.4 two-point attempts, compared to 3.6 in those losses. So there’s no secret SE Melbourne need their star guard looking after the ball, attacking the basket and making shots for them to succeed.

Nathan Sobey – In two losses to SE Melbourne, the Sobatron has managed a mere 20 points on 2-of-8 shooting from long range. In contrast, in a pair of triumphs over the Phoenix he has poured in 42 on 6-of-14 from the land of plenty. Sobey’s past five games have delivered the astonishing numbers of 20ppg at 51 per cent, 39 per cent from deep, 6.2rpg and 6apg. If Brisbane are going to claim one last win, you can be sure Sobes will be at the heart of it.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DIME ?<a href="https://twitter.com/sobes2zero?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sobes2zero</a> hits <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonCadee5?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jasoncadee5</a> for 2<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WEAREBNE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WEAREBNE</a> <a href="https://t.co/vOoszGvmNL">pic.twitter.com/vOoszGvmNL</a></p>— Brisbane Bullets (@BrisbaneBullets) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets/status/1398920654649401346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The quotes

After 13 years as an NBL head coach, and seven years in charge of the Boomers, the curtain tonight comes down – at least for now – on the local coaching career of the legendary Andrej Lemanis.

His job steering the New Zealand Breakers from the outhouse to an NBL powerhouse that claimed just the league’s second three-peat will long live in Kiwi folklore.

His efforts guiding the Boomers into a world powerhouse – after 15 years outside the top four – who along with Spain were the only teams to make both medal rounds in 2016 and 2019, were extraordinary.

And while the challenge of taking Brisbane from expansion club to champions proved a step too far, the Bullets enter the final game of NBL21 with a 46-45 regular-season record over the past three seasons, the fourth-best record in the competition in that time.

Lemanis’ men were finishing this season strong, winning 7-of-11 heading into Sydney last week, but with their playoff hopes snuffed they couldn’t get the job done.

“I thought when New Zealand lost to SE Melbourne the sting came out of this game a little bit,” Lemanis said after his team’s one-point loss to the Kings.

“Certainly defensively I thought we weren’t where we needed to be even though we were up in that first quarter. Just some breakdowns, gave up wide-open threes, guys drove around us, offensive rebounds, we turned it over.

“There was a lot there that suggested that mentally (we weren’t there).

“We started to get up the floor a bit more and be a bit more disruptive and took a couple of chances ... we tried to change the game up a bit and to the boys’ credit they went out and had a crack at it and gave ourselves some chances.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Harrison goes BANG....<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WEAREBNE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WEAREBNE</a> <a href="https://t.co/znigbZxgWU">pic.twitter.com/znigbZxgWU</a></p>— Brisbane Bullets (@BrisbaneBullets) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets/status/1401125842353201347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The defensive end has been a challenge for Brisbane all season long, just as it has for the Phoenix in their two-year existence.

Last week the Bullets cut them apart to open up the door for an unlikely playoff appearance, but SE Melbourne plugged the leaky boat in Auckland and earned themselves a shot at the title in just their second year in the league.

“It wasn’t our best game of basketball by any stretch of the imagination, I think our composure probably wasn’t at its highest, but I thought we dug in defensively and we played the right way,” coach Simon Mitchell said.

“Maybe the last couple of games you could maybe suggest we weren’t playing the right way. We had a bit of swerve on with our offence in the first half, that dried up a little bit but we were able to maintain some stops at the defensive end, and I thought our guys rebounded really well.

“We’re working on (the offence), we need to be a little more fluent, we were a little tight at times, some of our decision making maybe not en pointe, but at least the effort was there on the other end of the floor tonight and that’s most important.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ZAY IS TOUGH ? <a href="https://t.co/vAlknk5gpL">pic.twitter.com/vAlknk5gpL</a></p>— South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1401101522755211267?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

SE Melbourne’s semi-final fate revolves around Tuesday night’s clash in Brisbane.

A loss will mean a best-of-three series against fellow homeless club Melbourne, with a neutral venue possible given Victoria’s severe lockdown restrictions.

A win sets up a date with Perth, who are weakened without Bryce Cotton but own the NBL’s strongest home-court advantage.

Either outcome is a tough one for the Phoenix, but Bullets coach Lemanis is hoping his team can capitalise on their loyal fans to finish the season and his time in the River City on a high.

“I've enjoyed this group all season long, they’ve been a wonderful group to work with and I want to enjoy the next few days with this team and enjoy our last experience together on Tuesday night,” he said.

“There’s a lot to celebrate in terms of the season and the contribution by the members of the team through some challenging times.

“The reality is this year our home record hasn’t been very good, and that’s ultimately why we’re not in the playoffs because we haven't won enough at home.

“So it would be nice to come out and give that the appropriate effort and give our fans something to hang onto to come back next year, but more importantly to give ourselves a positive memory as a group to celebrate this year together.”

Phoenix superstar Mitch Creek has plenty of positive memories of his time playing under coach Lemanis, and while he wants to spoil the going away party, he is very glad to be a part of it.

“It's going to be special, any time someone plays or coaches their last game there’s always that little bit of extra bite,” Creek said.

“I give him all the props in the world, he’s been fantastic for Basketball Australia, the Olympic program and all the guys along the way that he’s coached and had an effect on.

“He gave me my first Boomers jersey and I will remember that moment forever. I bawled my eyes out in front of him like a five-year-old kid having a tantrum for about five minutes and he just hugged me, so we've had some special memories together.”