R4 Preview: SE Melbourne Phoenix v The Hawks

When: 3.00pm (AEDT), Sunday 7 February

Where: State Basketball Centre, Melbourne

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

The last time

South East Melbourne 90 (Stephens 20, Madgen 17, Pineau 14) d Illawarra 82 (Blanchfield 15, Grida 13, Froling 13, Dech 13), Round 15, 2020/21, WIN Entertainment Centre

The third ever meeting between the Phoenix and Hawks took place in Wollongong in Round 15 of last season, and it was South East Melbourne who recorded the eight-point win on the road that kept their hopes of playing finals in their inaugural NBL season still alive. That didn’t eventuate and these two teams would end up occupying the last two spots in the standings with the Phoenix closing the season on an eight-game losing streak, and the Hawks 10.

This was a night of breakout performances, though, and it was Kendall Stephens the match winner for the Phoenix. He drilled four three-pointers during a run of 17 straight points for South East Melbourne to blow the game wide open in the third quarter. He ended up with a game-high 20 points while the now retired Ben Madgen hit 17 points and currently injured centre Dane Pineau 14 points, 18 rebounds and three blocked shots.

Sam Froling put in an impressive showing for the Hawks with 13 points and 11 rebounds but their other standout performers on the night are either out injured in #NBL21 or playing elsewhere – Todd Blanchfield, Sunday Dech and Daniel Grida.

The now

The Phoenix might come into this first game in Melbourne of the 2021 NBL season with a 2-3 record but that doesn’t tell the whole story and they haven’t had a full squad available in any of those five matches. South East Melbourne has played back-to-back games in both Adelaide and Perth to start the season, and managed to bounce back from a tough first up loss in both cities to then win the second game. But on both occasions they had their chances in the first game too.

It's an encouraging sign that they have made the right adjustments to win on the second game against the same opponents and then on Sunday in Bendigo, they pushed the undefeated Melbourne United before ending up losing by six points. They are now playing their first home game on Sunday and while Dane Pineau and Adam Gibson won't be there, they will be hoping to hand the Hawks their first loss.

What a story the Hawks have become this season already. The return of master coach Brian Goorjian brought hope to the 'Gong, but nobody could have expected an undefeated start for a team who had to spend a month away from home, and play all four of their games in Queensland with two each against the Brisbane Bullets and Cairns Taipans.

But not only have they won all four, they've done so with an average winning margin of 12.5 points and while getting only a combined 17 minutes on court so far from NBA-experienced pair Deng Adel and Cam Bairstow. Goorjian, though, has this team the smoothest running machine in the league right now and it's all on the back of three Americans who are clicking, Tyler Harvey, Justin Simon and Justinian Jessup, and then AJ Ogilvy leading well, Sam Froling delivering and everyone playing their roles impressively. This is now their last road game before they bring their show home to Wollongong and they'll want to do that undefeated.

The stats

- The Phoenix have never lost to the Hawks, winning all three games last season in their inaugural NBL campaign. They won those by four, 10 and eight points.

- Offsetting that somewhat, South East Melbourne has never won at the State Basketball Centre in Melbourne. They played games there twice last season for losses to the New Zealand Breakers and Cairns Taipans.

- The Hawks won five games last season. A win in this game and they'll already equal that and they already are the first team ever to win their first four games the next season after a wooden spoon. 

- Brian Goorjian makes his NBL return to Melbourne for the first time since the winning Grand Final with the South Dragons in 2009. Across 16 seasons prior to that, he totalled 510 games as a head coach in Melbourne.

- The Hawks have been in front at three quarter-time in all four games this season and then won each fourth quarter on the back of that. The Phoenix, meanwhile, have lost four of their five fourth quarters they have played so far in #NBL21. 

The key men

Mitch Creek – The Hawks don't appear to have a natural match up for the Phoenix powerhouse. Justin Simon is a masterful defender but the Hawks might be more likely to use him to try to limit the impact of point guard Keifer Sykes rather than Mitch Creek. He has been good this season with 19.8 points and 6.6 rebounds a game. He had 30 points, eight rebounds and six assists to open the season. But aside from rolling his ankle in Perth, he has looked crisp. He has been unstoppable going to the rack, his jump shot looks the best it ever has and it might be now time for him to deliver that match-winning showing.

Justinian Jessup – The Hawks are quickly learning they can know what to expect from imports Justin Simon and Tyler Harvey. Simon has proven himself a brilliant defender and strong contributor across all areas while Harvey is just a dynamic offensive threat currently going at 23.3 points a game. But when they have Justinian Jessup aggressive and looking for his shot, and his jumper is falling, this team looks unbeatable. He has shown patches of catching fire and knocking down multiple shots in short periods of time in his rookie season, and his 12.5 points and 6.8 rebounds so far looks just the tip of the iceberg.

The quotes

Having been away from Melbourne since New Year's Day and then getting back to Victoria but going straight to Bendigo on Sunday, the South East Melbourne Phoenix have enjoyed a week at home and now look forward to a first home game on Sunday at the State Basketball Centre.

While looking forward to the comforts of playing at home and spending a week in their own homes, assistant coach Judd Flavell knows that a big challenge awaits them in the form of the undefeated Hawks.

"We’ve been hanging out to play in front of our home crowd so I know the boys will be itching to get on the court here at the State Basketball Centre where we train, in the middle of the Heartland," Flavell said.

"They’re the in-form team at 4-0. We respect every team and especially The Hawks who will be riding high on confidence…they’ll be walking in here with the mindset that they can win it. At the same time we don’t fear them. We’ll make sure we do our homework and come in well prepared. It’s good to have Goorj (Brian Goorjian) back in Melbourne as well. The way he’s got his troops playing, we’re certainly coming into this one with a good amount of respect."

Phoenix big man Ben Moore has been showing flashes of what he's capable of over the opening five games, and he's looking forward to his first home game in the NBL on Sunday.

"It’s a good league. It’s very competitive, any team can win on any given night, I really like that aspect of it. I like that everyone’s out here playing hard trying to win games," Moore said.

"It’s been a long journey getting here but it’s going to be good to back in the Heartland and just being in our own gym and getting to interact with our home fans a little bit, I’m excited about that. I heard they get a little rowdy, they’re some good fans."

Sunday is a historic occasion in the sense that it marks Brian Goorjian's return to Melbourne to coach a game in the NBL for the first time since leading the South Dragons to the 2009 championship. Back then, the NBL played 48-minute games and the venue on Sunday, the State Basketball Centre, did not exist. 

Goorjian is still yet to coach against any of his former players this season on his return with the Hawk sand that won't change on Sunday with Adam Gibson ruled out with a calf injury.

But Goorjian isn’t worried about what it means for himself. He's just focused on his team and he loves the way his team has started the season at both ends of the floor with the four wins in Queensland. The averaging 90.5 points a game offensively is something he likes, but what he is even happier about is just giving up a league-low 78.0 points. It's that defence he wants his team known for.

"I'm loving the scorelines and how we're winning, and that's got to be the trademark long-term with the future of this team," Goorjian said.

"You only win in this league if you guard. For us in building this thing, offensively we are a work in progress but if we defend then that's what we want to be known for. 

"They were last in the league in that area last year and it's kind of been a tradition of the team over a period of time, and it has been a focus point since day one that we've gotten together. We have to guard, we've got to rebound and we've got to guard without fouling. 

"I think the offence sometimes is a bit of a struggle, but we're not turning the ball over too much and we are moving the ball."

The best part of what Goorjian has seen in this team at the Hawks this season is that no egos are getting in the way. Nobody's complaining about their minutes or roles, and Goorjian has no doubt that will continue while they keep winning.

"I have no emotion about keeping guys happy and their playing time. I think everyone in the group is getting more through winning and being a part of this than they have ever before in their career in the NBL," Goorjian said. 

"You look at Froling, you look at AJ, you look at Naar, you look at Isaac, you look at Deng Deng and who would be disappointed. You're 4-0, a lot of these guys have struggled in this and now they are winning games and getting to play, they are part of a new franchise and it's about team. 

"They've bought in on that and I'm subbing to win, there's no favourites in this group. I think everybody feels like they are contributing."