DrinkWise Preview: NBL26 - Round 11, Game 2 v South East Melbourne Phoenix

It’s time for another huge Throwdown clash to close Round 11 of the Hungry Jack’s NBL26 season.

Coming off a loss on Thursday evening, Sunday looms as a great opportunity to bounce back against our bitter rivals.

Having won nine of the last 11 Throwdown games, our stars will be looking to build on that momentum in order to get back in the win column.

South East Melbourne will also be looking to rediscover their form and avoid a third consecutive defeat, having gone down to Illawarra on Thursday in overtime.

WHAT’S THE WORD?

Unhappy with how his side performed on Thursday, Head Coach Dean Vickerman said he is expecting to see an entirely different mindset from the group in the Throwdown.

“I think there certainly needs to be a change of mindset,” Vickerman explained.

“I was just disappointed to see our guys play (like that) after seeing guys put absolutely everything out there for their country (during the FIBA Window).

“Tonight (Thursday) we just didn’t turn up with the right mindset and if you do that in this league you’re going to get punched, and we certainly got punched in the face in that first quarter.”

Looking to rebound after already going down to us twice so far this season, Phoenix Head Coach Josh King stressed the importance of putting forward a consistent four-quarter effort come Sunday.

“Taking care of the ball, creating quality open looks that we’ll need to take, no matter what, and then just put four quarters together,” King said.

“We’ve played them good for two and a half, three quarters… you’ve just got to perform and you’ve got to play well.

“If we do that we’ll give ourselves a chance.”

WHO’S HOT, WHO'S NOT

After a down scoring evening from our star backcourt of Milton Doyle and Tyson Walker on Thursday, the pair will be looking to step up like they have across the first two Throwdown games.

On average, the dynamic duo have combined for 33.5 points and 10.5 assists per game when facing the Phoenix.

On the other side, SEM will be hoping Nathan Sobey can continue his stellar form. The star from Warrnambool is averaging one of the highest scoring outputs of his career thus far this season.

DETAILS

Who: Melbourne United vs South East Melbourne Phoenix

Tip-off: 2:30pm AEDT, Sunday 7 December, 2025

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne 

Watch: Channel 10 & ESPN

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