R6 Preview: SE Melbourne Phoenix v Brisbane Bullets

When: 3.00pm (AEDT), Sunday 21 February

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne

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

The last time

Brisbane 108 (Patterson 27, Sobey 14, Singler 13, Cadee 13) d SE Melbourne 101 (Roberson 26, Walker 17, Madgen 13), January 23, 2020 at Nissan Arena, Brisbane

This meeting took place in the back end of last season with the Bullets winning to keep their slim playoff hopes alive while the Phoenix were just crying out for their inaugural NBL campaign to come to an end. Brisbane won on the back of a 31-point fourth quarter but it was Lamar Patterson's 27 points and Will Magnay's defensive presence that were the biggest factors. Neither is still at Brisbane but South East Melbourne's best performers were the now departed John Roberson, Devondrick Walter and Ben Madgen as well. Cam Gliddon had five points and five assists for the Bullets, and Reuben Te Rangi didn’t hit the floor but both now play for the first time with the Phoenix against their former club on Sunday.

The now

Both teams enter the NBL Cup on the back of remarkable turnarounds in the second half of back-to-back games last week. The Phoenix pulled off a 56-point turnaround against the Perth Wildcats while the Bullets completed a 34-point reversal against the Adelaide 36ers.

After spending a month away from Melbourne to start the season, the Phoenix have now settled back home and have the NBL Cup on home territory that they will look to make the most of coming into it on the momentum of a 25-point win against the Wildcats. That marked a 56-point turnaround from a 31-point loss to the 'Cats just 72 hours earlier and there's now great excitement surrounding South East Melbourne after the announcement that they have signed regular Boomer and NBA sharpshooter Ryan Broekhoff for the rest of the season.

The Bullets played their first six games of the season at home in Brisbane compiling a 2-4 record but they ensured they enter the NBL Cup on a positive note with perhaps their most complete performance of the season in their only game on the road so far. After losing at home to the 36ers just 48 hours earlier by 15 points, they turned things around in Adelaide with Vic Law dominant in the first half and then his teammates coming along for the ride in the second as they won by 19 points to now be a chance of improving to .500 with a win first up in Melbourne on Sunday.

The stats

- The Phoenix and the Bullets are the easiest teams to score against after five rounds of the NBL. South East Melbourne is conceding 91.4 points a game and Brisbane 91.1.

- As Cam Gliddon and Reuben Te Rangi prepare to play against the Brisbane Bullets for the first time since joining the South East Melbourne Phoenix, they are enjoying better seasons. Gliddon is up from 8.9 points from 7.1 a season ago while Te Rangi is going at 6.0 points after 2.6.

- The two teams only played in Melbourne once last season with South East Melbourne setting a franchise-high 113 points on the back of hitting 18 three-point shots and dishing out 28 assists. The 20-point margin marked Brisbane's biggest loss of the season.

The key men

Keifer Sykes – It's hard not to be excited by what the point guard has delivered so far this season for the Phoenix. He arrived with big shoes to fill after what John Roberson offered last year, but he is more than standing tall despite his small stature. His four battles with Bryce Cotton already this season have been tantalising, but he's proven capable of being a match-winner with what he provides South East Melbourne Phoenix in terms of his playmaking ability, shot making prowess and then his hounding defence. Now whether it's Nathan Sobey or Jason Cadee he focuses his defence talents on come Sunday, how he goes at both ends will determine how the Phoenix go.

Vic Law – Never was the influence he has on the Bullets more evident than the two games last week against the Adelaide 36ers. He struggled first up at home on the Saturday night with his NBL low of nine points and subsequently the Bullets lost by 15. But he was a man possessed and focused to hit back hard on Monday night. The result was he produced 19 points in the first half alone on his way to 27 for the game in a match-winning performance. His ability to have a post-game, mid-range shot and three-point ability make him an offensive threat but he's also a good passer, strong rebounder and solid defender. That's why he is the barometer of this Brisbane team and his battle with Mitch Creek is going to be pivotal on Sunday.

The quotes

South East Melbourne coach Simon Mitchell was most impressed with the amount of contributors the Phoenix had in their win over the Perth Wildcats on Sunday, and he knows that's when they are at their best.

"When we're at our best that's what you are going to see is a lot of guys contributing. Go back to the Illawarra game and we had five guys scoring 15 points, and then in this win we had five guys in double-figures and a couple of guys with eight points. That's us at our best," Mitchell said. 

"Creeky got in foul trouble early so was a non-factor in the first half but Ben Moore steps in to do a job on the boards and the offensive end. Then in the second Creeky only has the two fouls and can go a little harder with only 20 minutes left and he gets his. It's just making sure that everyone goes when it's their turn to go. It was great to see Reuben get his offensive flow going a little bit too and that will be a nice little boost for him."

Phoenix guard Kyle Adnam is in career-best form this season putting up 13.8 points a game and he is looking forward to the NBL Cup not just for himself and his teammates, but for the basketball fans.

"It's really exciting. Obvoiusly to have nine teams in one city is going to be amazing and I think Victorian basketball fans are in for an absolute treat," Adnam said. 

"Phoenix fans are obviously going to have an opportunity to see us in the flesh again but to see the other teams up close too is going to be a real treat. It's going to be amazing for us. We had a little bit of a stint on the road to start the year but to have the chance to be home for the month is amazing. Eight games in a month with back-to-back games is going to be amazing and the fans are in for a real treat."

Bullets coach Andrej Lemanis became accustomed to tournament environments while coaching the Australian Boomers so he is looking forward the month ahead for his team in Melbourne during the NBL Cup.

"It will be good and I'll enjoy that, I think it's like a World Cup or Olympics environment where you are away for a month and you get to play a lot of games. They come back-to-back-to-back and there's a lot of learning on playing lots of games and a rhythm," Lemanis said.

"Before we played the first game against Adelaide we had sat for eight days just by the nature of the draw and obviously COVID gets in the way of things, and then we came out and played a little stale. It took us a little while to get started and kickstarted. But then playing two days later, you are able to carry the momentum from one game into another and learnings from that. 

"So I'm really looking forward to that side of it but the challenge will be of course the bodies and if you get injuries. That can really affect you in a hurry in that sort of environment particularly since we only have 10 now on rosters. So that can be a challenge but every team will face that at some point, and when you face it can have a significant impact. 

"But depth will get tested as well and that's where I was happy in our last game that everyone came in and scored and contributed, and the lowest minutes we had was seven. That's going to be important as we get to the back end of the NBL Cup in games six, seven and eight on the back of 20 days. But I like it and I love that environment. It's just like any tournament and most of these guys have played in them at some level so I think it will be fun."

Bullets guard Nathan Sobey has started the season in brilliant form averaging 25.2 points a game and he too is looking forward to what lies ahead in the NBL Cup.

"We are keen to get some games underway in the first NBL Cup and it's exciting not just for the Bullets but the whole NBL. We are super keen to play some games and hopefully get on a roll and get some wins," Sobey said.

"It's a bit different to being on the road during a regular season, but we enjoyed being on the road the other day in Adelaide and getting to know each other a bit more away from our families and everything at home in Brisbane is going to be good for the group."