Can Phoenix stop the unstoppable?

Saturday, December 28, 2024

"They are a chance, but they have to play a 40-minute full game."

After a 0-5 start to the season, the South East Melbourne Phoenix have forced their way into the top six, and now loom as one of the most dangerous teams heading towards the Finals.

The Phoenix have bounced back in style, with a 9-9 record and wins against Melbourne United and the Adelaide 36ers in the last fortnight.

But now comes perhaps the biggest test of where they’re at - the Illawarra Hawks in enemy territory.

Josh King’s squad will take confidence from a three-point win when the teams last met a month ago, but it’s fair to say the Hawks have gone to another level since.

“They (the Phoenix) are a chance, but they have to play a 40-minute full game,” former Opals star Alice Kunek said on NBL Now.

“They can’t have lapses, they can’t have moments.”

Perhaps most encouraging for the Phoenix, the rise of their stars. Derrick Walton Jr and Nathan Sobey struggled early in the year, but look to be bouncing back to their best form at the perfect time.

Walton Jr had a season-high 28 points in the win over Adelaide, while Sobey went on a run of three 20-plus point performances, before tallying 9 assists last game.

Matt Hurt continues to put up big numbers and has been ultra-consistent all season, while the supporting cast of Jordan Hunter, Malique Lewis and Angus Glover are all playing key roles.

The Phoenix can’t be underestimated, but the Hawks seem somewhat unstoppable right now.

“They’re going to have to play pretty much a perfect game,” Kunek added.

“Playing the Sandpit is tough and Illawarra are playing some really great basketball.

“They (the Hawks) are a team that know their roles, they know what they bring to the team, they know when their moment is.

“You look at someone like Mason Peatling ... if I said to you he’d be on the Illawarra Hawks’ starting five, last year you would probably laugh in my face. But he is playing great minutes, he knows his role, he does his role perfectly.

“They just seem to find a way to win and gel and put it together at the right time.

“The way they play for one another and their coach, they’re really hard to beat.

“They’ve got the perfect mix and the perfect balance to win a Championship.”

It’s the Hawks and Phoenix on Tuesday night at WIN Entertainment Centre, live on ESPN from 5.30pm AEDT.