Zhou Qi headlines a big list of ins at the South East Melbourne Phoenix while fresh off winning in Phoenix, the Adelaide 36ers open their NBL season as the Sydney Kings look to continue to impress and Melbourne United tries to hit back in Round 3.
It’s been an eventful opening two rounds of the NBL season with the Sydney Kings and Perth Wildcats undefeated, the Brisbane Bullets remaining winless and the Adelaide 36ers yet to play a single game.
That will change on Thursday night with the 36ers at home to the Tasmania JackJumpers fresh off their NBLxNBA sojourn which included a historic victory against the Phoenix Suns.
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That leads into three straight days of double-headers beginning on Friday night with the on fire Sydney Kings hosting a Cairns Taipans attempting to bounce back from a hefty loss at home to Perth.
The Wildcats then look to remain undefeated at home to a Melbourne United team needing to respond to a horror show at home to the Kings.
That leads into Saturday night where Zhou Qi, Ryan Broekhoff and Trey Kell will all return for the South East Melbourne Phoenix against the New Zealand Breakers following the 36ers being at home to the Illawarra Hawks.
There are two more matches on Sunday afternoon beginning with Melbourne United having a short turnaround coming back from the west to host the Tasmania JackJumpers.
The Brisbane Bullets will then play their first home game of the season and attempt to record their first win against the Sydney Kings.
The round will wrap up on Monday night in Wollongong with the Illawarra Hawks hosting the New Zealand Breakers.
SIXERS LOOKING TO BUILD ON NBA MOMENTUM
Even if the Adelaide 36ers couldn’t back up the win over the Phoenix Suns against Oklahoma City Thunder, there’s great excitement around their opening game of the season with a record crowd expected at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
The 36ers made history a week and-a-half ago when they became the first NBL team to travel to the United States and beat an NBA opponent when they lit it up spectacularly to beat the Phoenix Suns 134-124.
They couldn’t quite back it up five days later losing to Oklahoma City Thunder 131-98 last Friday but what they had already done had captured the imagination of the basketball world.
The Sixers have now returned home to Adelaide and there’s tremendous excitement in the City of Churches around their NBL season opener on Thursday night when they play host to the Tasmania JackJumpers.
With new imports Craig Randall, Antonius Cleveland and Robert Franks leading the charge for the 36ers alongside the returning Daniel Johnson, Sunday Dech and Kai Sotto, there’s great reason for the fans in Adelaide to be excited for the season ahead.
History made! 36ers take down Suns | 01:25
The Sixers supporters have been starved of success for a long time with no championship since 2002 and only two grand final appearances in that time with the last four years ago.
However, based on the signings coach CJ Bruton has made and what the 36ers did in Phoenix, Adelaide is abuzz over their 36ers with the biggest ever crowd at the Entertainment Centre expected on Thursday night.
They take on the JackJumpers and then also host the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday night. Captain Mitch McCarron, who had 16 assists in the win over the Suns, can’t wait.
“Hopefully we get a sell out. It’s going to be a great opener and we’re excited to play. To have two home openers in the first weekend is special,” McCarron said.
“It’s been forever since we’ve played a game in Adelaide, so it’s super exciting. At the same time, Tassie are going to be desperate, they just got their first win.
“They know losing a bunch of games at the start hurts later in the season. For us, it’s our home opener, we really want to turn it on for the fans.”
ANOTHER TOUGH JACKJUMPERS CHALLENGE
Fresh off having to be the first team to play the New Zealand Breakers in their homecoming, the Tasmania JackJumpers are now the side that has to tackle the returning Adelaide 36ers in their first game of NBL23.
Coming off their inaugural season where the JackJumpers won the heart of Australia’s sporting public with their remarkable run all the way to the grand final, they have been thrown right in the deep end early in NBL23.
Tasmania played its first four games of the season in the space of eight days which included them being the first team to play in Auckland against the Breakers as they celebrated their return home after virtually spending two years based in Australia.
The result was the JackJumpers losing their opening three matches and then they had a short turnaround to return home on Sunday to play host to the equally desperate Brisbane Bullets.
However, Tasmania dug deep to score the win in overtime and a big part in that result was the performance of new import shooting guard Milton Doyle.
He has arrived this season with big shoes to fill replacing Josh Adams who was especially incredible last season in the playoffs for the JackJumpers when he put on his Superman cape.
Doyle then had a rough night against New Zealand last Friday with just six points on 2/11 shooting so he had to step up on Sunday to taste his first NBL victory, and he did exactly that.
Doyle finished with 32 points, six rebounds and four assists on 12/22 shooting from the field and 4/11 from downtown. Now he’s looking forward to the challenge against the 36ers in Adelaide on Thursday night.
“I’m enjoying my time here so far. It’s kind of like the G League with all the games coming so fast but it’s been a great feeling getting on the court and just getting out there playing,” Doyle said.
“Every team in this league is a challenge, but with those guys getting a win against an NBA team, it makes it an even bigger challenge for us to come in and face them now.”
CHINESE SUPERSTAR TO BE DIFFERENCE MAKER FOR PHOENIX
The South East Melbourne Phoenix will be boosted by 7’1 Chinese superstar Zhou Qi on Saturday night and it immediately makes them a different prospect to tackle.
The Phoenix have played their first three games of the season significantly shorthanded without not only Zhou but Ryan Broekhoff, Trey Kell and Gary Browne.
The result has been just the one win against the Tasmania JackJumpers and losses to the Cairns Taipans and Illawarra Hawks, but they get three of those pieces back this week to take on the New Zealand Breakers at John Cain Arena on Saturday night.
While the returns of Broekhoff and Kell are significant and give the Phoenix some much-needed shooting, ball handling, playmaking and rebounding, it’s the addition of Zhou that really changes things.
Across the NBL most teams have got significantly smaller this season and most don’t have that genuine imposing big centre, but the presence of Zhou for the Phoenix now gives them a real chance to have a different look.
Standing 216cm, if he catches the ball down low his opponents are going to have little choice but to foul him if he takes the ball up attempting to score around the basket. Then up the other end, he has the chance to be a significant defensive presence with his size and length.
Teams will try to take advantage of him at the same time and drag him out to defend the perimeter, and put him in pick-and-roll situations, and he will also need to stay out of foul trouble.
But the potential for him to be a difference-maker for South East Melbourne is significant and he is excited to be back for a second season.
“I’m very excited to come back and join the team again. Hopefully we will make something happen this season now,” Zhou said.
“I’ve watched the last few games the guys have played and I’m looking forward to meeting the new guys, and jumping on the court with them.
“I will be playing on Saturday. That’s why I got here a few days earlier so I could jump on the court with the boys straight away and make some chemistry happen.”
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COULD THE KINGS BE EVEN BETTER?
A former Sydney King believes this team of NBL23 might be even better than the one that won the championship a season ago, and based on their opening three games, it’s tough to argue.
The Kings became unstoppable by the end of last season going through the playoffs undefeated on the way to winning the championship.
However, from that team coming into NBL23, they lost all three imports including MVP Jaylen Adams along with Ian Clark and Jarell Martin. Other key players Makur Maker, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk and Tom Vodanovich all moved on.
That left plenty of questions surrounding the Kings defending their championship this season but there needn’t have been any concern. Three games in, they deserve to be title favourites by some margin.
Derrick Walton Jr has fitted into the point guard role vacated by Adams in spectacular fashion, Tim Soares has been a solid big man addition, Justin Simon is providing great energy and intensity, Kouat Noi has fitted in well and Jordan Hunter is returning well from injury.
Then you have Grand Final MVP Xavier Cooks who has taken his all-round game up another level again and the Kings showed on Sunday in Melbourne just how deadly they can be opening up a 38-point lead on the road before beating United by 20.
Kings down United for 14th win straight | 01:20
Coming into the season it would have appeared a bold statement to say the Kings could be better than last season, but right now it could be on the money. They are on an eight-game winning streak overall and having won an NBL record 14 straight on the road.
Former Kings forward Cody Ellis marvels at that performance on the road they continue to deliver and is willing to feel they could be better than the team that won the championship.
“The Kings might be better than last year, I think that is probably the most impressive thing for me so far this season especially with everything they lost,” Ellis said on Hoops Heaven’s Basketball Hustle podcast.
“They’ve recruited so well and they’ve kind of just taken off where they left off in that championship form. That has to be scary for every other team in the league.
“Even more impressive is how many road games they’ve now won in-a-row. Winning on the road is tough and you go into a season thinking if we split our road games we are in good stead.
“The fact they’ve won 14 straight now, it’s unbelievable and it’s such an impressive feat. It just shows the confidence they have and they have no fear. It doesn’t matter where they go, they go in believing they can win and it’s really cool to see.”
BOUNCE BACK OR ELSE FOR UNITED
Pressure is building on some of Melbourne United’s new signings after a heavy loss to Sydney Kings and movement could be on the way if they don’t bounce back swiftly in Round 3.
Melbourne was always a bit of an unknown quantity coming into this NBL season on the back of losing Matthew Dellavedova, Jack White and Jo Lual-Acuil, and then Ariel Hukporti to a ruptured Achilles in the pre-season.
United has also been without Shea Ili and Mason Peatling over the opening two games, but what happened on Sunday to give up 25 straight points to the Sydney Kings, to fall 38 points down and lose by 20 in the finish has brought things to a point.
Things don’t get any easier with Melbourne now heading to Perth to take on the undefeated Wildcats on Friday night before coming back home to host the Tasmania JackJumpers with a short turnaround on Sunday afternoon.
Pressure is mounting on two of their imports as well. Rayjon Tucker arrived calling himself the best new import in the NBL, but on Sunday against Sydney he scored just five points on 1/11 shooting.
Then there is power forward Jordan Caroline. He looked like a nice piece in the front court alongside bigger men Hukporti and Isaac Humphries, but suddenly there are questions over if United need to upgrade on him now even though he had 10 points and 10 rebounds against the Kings.
Wildcats dominate Taipans in Cairns | 02:08
New import guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes might not be under the same spotlight as Tucker and Caroline given he was so good for United in the season-opener, but remains confident Melbourne can quickly get back on track.
“You never want to lose, but it is one loss. The sun comes up the next day, so for us it is about learning the mistakes we had in that game and figuring out what went wrong,” Rathan-Mayes said.
“We have some great veteran leadership in this team who can help settle us down. We have had a couple of great film review sessions, and I think we’re back on track and heading in the right direction.
“Perth is a tough trip, but these road trips are good. We get out of our normal routine and get to be on the road with just our team. It is something that we’re looking forward to, particularly playing in a hostile environment like the one in Perth.”
