Round 10 Preview v SE Melbourne Phoenix

The NBL Cup is now over but the Adelaide 36ers are back in Melbourne for the resumption of the regular NBL season to take on the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Saturday.

Having spent the week back home in Adelaide following Sunday's last game at the NBL Cup against the Perth Wildcats, the 36ers are back in Melbourne now ahead of facing the Phoenix on Saturday in Round 10 of the NBL season.

The NBL Cup didn't quite go as well as the Sixers were hoping. Losing centre Isaac Humphries to an on-going foot injury didn’t help and they came out of it with two wins from the eight games, but that doesn’t tell the true story of how they performed.

Adelaide had genuine chances to win games against Melbourne United, Illawarra Hawks, Brisbane Bullets and even the Wildcats on Sunday when they were 26 points in front during the second quarter.

So with a few things going their way, that record could have been a lot better but they are playing some decent basketball again having overcome that horror 44-point loss to the New Zealand Breakers.

The added confidence boost heading into Saturday's game is that one of those wins in Melbourne at the NBL Cup was against South East Melbourne.

It was the second game at the tournament within a season for Adelaide and they beat the Phoenix 99-94 on the back of 24 points and 11 rebounds from Isaac Humphries, 27 points and 11 boards from Daniel Johnson, 15 points and 10 assists from Josh Giddey, and 12 points from Tony Crocker.

Obviously Humphries won't be there this time, but new import Brandon Paul will for the 36ers and he made quite the audacious debut against the Wildcats on Sunday with 16 first half points on the way to 25 for the game while hitting 6/10 from three-point territory.

Coach Conner Henry couldn’t have been more impressed and is looking to see plenty more from Paul now moving forward as well. 

"It was very encouraging. Brandon looked after himself through the quarantine, got on the bike and the weights, and I think he came into flying over here in a pretty good physical condition," Henry said on his Ask the Coach segment on Sixers Fix with Scott Ninnis thanks to Sports Card World.

"We were very pleased and we saw what he was capable of doing. We need a guy who can go out and get us a bucket, and get us some easy ones which we've struggled this year with at times. Most imports are able to do that so it was very encouraging. 

"He shot the ball really well and I wasn’t expecting that first night, but we'll take it and he's been really good the last three or four practices down the stretch of the bubble and back home. 

"He's got some little aches and pains which is normal from the overall lack of activity and the quarantine, but he's in a good way, feeling positive, is in a good way and we are expecting big things from him."

There are plenty of unknowns about what to expect from South East Melbourne on Saturday as well. The Phoenix did finish the NBL Cup in tremendous form with three consecutive wins to end up in second position to take out a share of the prizemoney.

However, they are now without former Adelaide captain Mitch Creek while import point guard Keifer Sykes remains sidelined and his back up Kyle Adnam is also in doubt with an ankle injury.

But it appears centre Dane Pineau and another ex-Sixers captain Adam Gibson will make their return so it's going to be fascinating to see how the Phoenix make their adjustments to the change in personnel while trying to blend in former NBA sharpshooter Ryan Broekhoff too.

A strong performance from the 36ers and a winning one would be just the tonic they need to regain some confidence and belief ahead of the trip to Perth to play on Monday, and coach Henry is seeing no reason why they can't deliver against the Phoenix.

"We didn’t get the results that we thought we would. With the way we were tracking we felt pretty positive going into it but we had some setbacks," Henry said on the Sixers Fix podcast.

"There was Isaac's foot which continues to be an issue and most likely will be another four or five weeks so we are having to piece that together, and we had the changing of an import right around that time too. We were managing some other fatigue issues and we just didn’t get the results. 

"There were a number of games we were in and played fairly well but just couldn’t complete the 40 minutes to get the W. We were all disappointed but it's been good to be home these last four days and now we fly out to Melbourne."

HUNGRY JACK'S 2021 NBL SEASON – ROUND 10

ADELAIDE 36ERS v SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX
John Cain Arena, Saturday 5.00pm ACDT

Broadcast – SBS Viceland, SBS on Demand, NBL TV, Twitch