Phoenix Backing Mitchell Ahead of Crunch Year

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

South East Melbourne Phoenix CEO Tommy Greer has thrown his support behind coach Simon Mitchell, ahead of what promises to be a crunch year for the club.

After being just one win away from a Grand Final berth in 2021, the Phoenix regressed last season and missed the finals.

Despite the step backwards, South East Melbourne has retained Mitchell for the upcoming campaign, with Greer confident he is the man to lead the club to the summit.

“We did our reviews. We went through the process. We had all the conversations, and it became clear in the process that Simon is the right man for the job. We're fully supportive of him and we think we're in for a big season with him,” Greer told ESPN.

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A key to the Phoenix’s finals ambitions this season will be the new import guard duo of Gary Browne and Trey Kell.

Greer believes both signings will help fix issues South East Melbourne had last season.

“The guards are a big part. I think last year we were lacking a true point guard and that's what we've tried to bring in with Gary,” he said.

“Someone who can control the tempo of the game and his focus is distribution and getting teammates involved. That was really a focus, also someone who prides himself on the defensive end of the floor as well.

“We feel like we've really ticked a box with him, then with his counterpart in Trey Kell, it's another player who's proven himself on the defensive end of the floor for Milan in the EuroLeague, applies pressure full court and also gives us that weapon offensively.

“He's going to be one of the best scorers in the pick-and-roll and is going to give us an option late in the game.

“We struggled in the last five minutes of games last year; we feel like having a piece like Trey will go a long way to remedying that part.”

The Phoenix open their campaign on October 1 at home against the Tasmania JackJumpers.