Perth Wildcats vs SEM Phoenix: Saturday Preview

Game Details
Perth Wildcats vs South East Melbourne Phoenix
5.00pm WST 5 February @ John Cain Arena
Watch LIVE on ESPN – available via Kayo or Foxtel

Context
This is the Perth Wildcats first matchup against the South East Melbourne Phoenix this season. The Wildcats will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing outing against the Sydney Kings last weekend. A win would have made this game a top-of-the-ladder-clash. Instead, the Phoenix are on top of the standings with Perth in third. South East Melbourne are on a four-game streak, while the Wildcats have won three of five since leaving WA.
A continuing story line for the Wildcats is their slow starts to games, which coach Scott Morrison will be hoping to address.

What the coach had to say
Scott Morrison on South East Melbourne 
“I think this is probably the deepest team we’ve played so far this season. The other teams have a lot of talent and there’s no free wins like I keep saying, tomorrow’s no different. But, as far as the depth of their roster, the amount of outside shooting they have is going to make it real difficult. There’s not really anybody we can just leave and help off of a little bit extra on their studs, so we’re going to have to play honest defence and fly around and use our energy to try and contest all their threes and make it as difficult as possible for them to get open looks.”

Scott Morrison on replacing Matt Hodgson
“We played I believe five games without Hodgy, so it’s not like in unchartered waters here. Majok is going to have to play a little bit more than what he has been playing recently, which I’m sure he won’t mind. Hopefully he’ll bring some good energy and play as well as he did in that first stretch of the season”

Scott Morrison on slow starts
“We are going to look at some things and maybe change up our warmup a bit, make it a bit more mental focused, get the guys thinking about some of the defensive things we have to do to be successful in the game.”

Roster Availability 
Michael Frazier II is available after missing last week’s game. Matt Hodgson (suspension) and Corey Shervill (foot) are unavailable. Development player Oliver Hayes-Brown will enter the team.

Opponents to watch out for
Some pundits have South East Melbourne star Mitch Creek as a contender for NBL MVP. So far this season he’s averaging 22.4 and 5.3 rebounds per game.
216cm Zhou Qi has also been a problem this year, pulling down 7.3 rebounds and rejecting a league-high 3.5 shots per game.

Last time they met
It’s almost been one year since these two teams last met on 3 March 2021 at Melbourne’s State Basketball Centre, with the Perth Wildcats winning 93-92. Bryce Cotton had a team-high 28 points, while South East Melbourne’s Kyle Adnam had a career-high 28 points. Todd Blanchfield scored 19 points on three of six made three-pointers.

Fun Facts and Stats
The NBL’s top-three scorers feature in this match (Bryce Cotton, Mitch Creek, Vic Law).
Bryce Cotton has had the top-five individual scoring games for the Perth Wildcats against the Phoenix, with a 32-point outing in January 2021 topping the list. Cotton averages 23.0 points against South East Melbourne.
Perth are the only team this season that is yet to lose consecutive games. Following both earlier defeats this season, Perth answered with a double figure win.  
The Wildcats are the highest scoring team at 88 per game with Phoenix ranked third at 85.8.

History
2022 is South East Melbourne Phoenix third season in the NBL. Perth and South East Melbourne have met eight times, with the Wildcats holding a 6-2 advantage. The two teams met five times in 2021, with the results split 3-2.