Phoenix players must respond

“Pack it up, or stack it up.” They’re the two options facing South East Melbourne Phoenix players when they play their first game since the sacking of coach Mike Kelly, according to Damon Lowery.

“You are being asked a question, and I love this part: I love it when your back couldn’t be any further against the wall, now you’ve got two choices - you either pack it up or you stack it up,” Lowery declared on NBL Now.

At 0-5, a win over championship-favourites Melbourne United on Sunday is the only panacea to a disastrous start.

“If they’ve got any kind of ticker, which I know them dudes got, and they haven’t showed on a consistent basis, but this is the game,” Lowery continued.

“You’re playing with ... a little bit of guilt. Because there’s blood on your hands.

“Mike Kelly is now unemployed and you guys are some of the part of that reason for that. You owe it to yourselves, you owe it to the Phoenix fans to respond, not react, but respond.”

Fellow commentator Pete Hooley agreed during Thursday night’s pre-game show.

“Normally when something like this happens, with a big move with a coach - as players it fires you up as well,” he said.

“There’s also that little sense of guilt as players where, 'could we have done a little bit more to save our coach’s job at the time?' - and they normally come out and respond and I’m expecting that on Sunday.”

Sam Mackinnon takes over as interim coach, following a similar situation in 2022 when he led the Brisbane Bullets after James Duncan’s departure.

The Phoenix play United on Sunday at 2:30pm AEDT, live on ESPN via Kayo, 10 Bold & 10 Play.