South East Melbourne turned the tables on the New Zealand Breakers from their previous meeting crossing the Tasman to regain some of that much-needed form lacking in their opening four matches, when they returned just one win.
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South East Melbourne blasted New Zealand off its home floor with a sumptuous offensive display that set a new franchise record — and will have left Phoenix fans salivating.
It’s a good thing coach Simon Mitchell didn’t mess around and decided to insert import Gary Browne straight into the Phoenix starting line-up in his club debut.
The floor general, on the back of an injured knee, was instrumental in his side’s 38-point first period — the most in any single quarter in franchise history — that laid the foundation for a 22-point drubbing of the Breakers.
From finding Ryan Broekhoff flaring off a back screen to splash a wing three pointer to wheeling and dealing in the two-man game with new best mate Alan Williams, the Puerto Rican maestro added a calm electricity to the Phoenix offence, something we’ve never seen in laser green.
The Phoenix made their first seven shots and, when Browne sat down at quarter time, he had six assists to his name as his side’s offence shredded like a Marty Friedman guitar solo on one of Mitchell’s beloved Megadeth records.
Browne was the waiter, dealing out a game-high nine dimes and every one of his teammates enjoyed a silver service dining experience as they found themselves with easy finishes at the rim or time to plop the egg yolk on their steak tartare before launching a three.
Captain Kyle Adnam praised Browne’s performance and his ability to shoulder the ball-carrying load.
“Gary did an amazing job, especially in that first quarter, finding guys and doing his thing,” Adnam said. “Credit to Gary tonight, he’s been working really hard on his knee, he’s had a good week-and-a-half for practice.
“Being able to play alongside him, too, and just get me some time off the ball as well, which is really really important. I’ve been on the ball for the whole pre-season and the first four games.
“I’ve absolutely loved having him back with the group.”
Chinese tower Zhou Qi’s first eight points all came on ferocious two-handed dunks, Williams feasted in the post and rolling to the hoop and Trey Kell took over in the third quarter with nine points, he and Broekhoff combining for a trio of three-pointers in a two-and-a-half minute stretch that put paid to any hope of a Breakers comeback.
Mitch Creek was Mitch Creek and Kyle Adnam made the transition from starting scoring machine to bench sparkplug with ease.
“We had to come out and prove a point, 1-3 is not what we wanted, we wanted to be 3-1,” Creek said, post game.“One more step ahead for us. It’s always a long week on the training floor when you start losing a few.
“We saw Sydney last year, they started poorly, came back and you saw how that went.
“Just to have Gary, Trey, Zhou, Alan everyone out there, its extra bodies, it’s more rest for me, the rest of the guys, it’s a fluent rotation now.
“It’s just nice to have a win.”
Imports Dererk Pardon and Jarrell Brantley flew the flag for the Breakers, while Mitchell used all 11 of his players — and every one of them got on the score sheet as the Phoenix shot a wildly efficient 62 per cent.
The Phoenix, now 2-3 on the season, return home with momentum Saturday night to welcome Aron Baynes and the underperforming Brisbane Bullets into their John Cain Arena home, while the Breakers back up on the road in Cairns Sunday afternoon against the helter-skelter surprise packet Taipans.
NO EXCUSES NOW
The Phoenix have spent a couple of months cautioning that they needed their full squad together. Qi arrived late in Melbourne after illness, Creek doesn’t train thanks to a foot ailment and Kell, Browne and Broekhoff have all had delayed starts with injury.
And so, this week, they were mindful that their guns lacked fitness. But the emphatic win over in New Zealand against a side that was on a three-game streak of its own blows that up, a clear reminder of how insanely deep this squad is.
Every one of those aforementioned men has played for their national team, an indicator of just how deep this side is. Kyle Adnam is now the back up point guard — he’s averaged 16 points per game in Browne’s absence — and he led the Phoenix with 17 points. Qi came off the bench for Williams and had 10 himself. There is no let up now the full Phoenix band is together.
IMPORTS CARRY BREAKERS
Anyone not named Brantley or Pardon was as cold as a shaved polar bear. The import pair was a perfect 10-10 from the field for 26 of the Breakers 41 first-half points — on a number of nasty dunks. Former Phoenix guard Isaiah Le’Afa wrecked their efficiency, though, missing all 10 of his shots. There were times at South East Melbourne where Le’Afa might have been better taking the finger off the trigger and the Breakers found that out — he scored 10 points, on 17 shots.
FRIENDLY FIRE
The claret spilled as giant Breaker Rob Loe’s face made its acquaintance with teammate Tom Vodanovich’s elbow during a third-quarter rebounding contest. The big fella went straight to the NZ rooms with a nasty gash under his eye, later re-emerging with some patchwork.
THE MONASH IS A DREAM
South East Melburnians will know the struggle of trying to get in and out of the city along the Monash Freeway and its endless stream of roadworks and lane closures. But Mitchell says it pales in comparison to what the Phoenix encountered in Auckland.
“It hasn’t been the greatest trip for us in regards to preparation, we’ve been stuck in traffic a couple of times trying to get a shootaround and then trying to get to a game. There are more witches hats in Auckland than anywhere else on earth. The Monash is a dream, you’ve got to talk to the people here in Auckland, they’ll tell you.”
SCOREBOARD
SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 99-77 NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS
PHOENIX
Adnam: 17 points
Williams: 16 points, 9 rebounds
Creek: 15 points
Kell: 13 points, 5 assists
Qi: 10 points, 6 rebounds
Browne: 8 points, 9 assists
BREAKERS
Brantley: 17 points
Pardon: 16 points
Originally published as Gary Browne slotted straight into the South East Melbourne starting five to give them a needed win in New Zealand
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