South_East_Melbourne_Phoenix

South East Melbourne Phoenix

South East Melbourne Phoenix

Australian professional basketball team

The South East Melbourne Phoenix are an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. The Phoenix entered the National Basketball League (NBL) in the 2019–20 season. The team play the majority of their home games at John Cain Arena, which they share with fellow NBL team Melbourne United, with some games being played at the State Basketball Centre.

Quick Facts S.E. Melbourne Phoenix, League ...

Franchise history

With plans to expand the National Basketball League (NBL) beginning with the 2019–20 season, the league sold a franchise licence to Swansea City co-owner Romie Chaudhari in July 2018.[1] In August 2018, former Melbourne Tigers player Tommy Greer was appointed general manager of the new franchise, with this appointment at the time indicating the franchise would likely be Melbourne-based.[2] On 2 September 2018, the NBL announced that the league's ninth franchise for the 2019–20 season will be based in south-eastern Melbourne.[3][4][5] On 18 October 2018, Simon Mitchell was appointed as the inaugural head coach of the team.[6] On 17 November 2018, the team's name was announced as South East Melbourne Phoenix.[7] The team logo and colours were also revealed.[8][9] On 4 December 2018, former Adelaide 36ers forward Mitch Creek was announced as the team's first marquee signing.[10][11]

First Season (2019–20)

The Phoenix debuted in the 2019–20 season opener on 3 October 2019, when they were hosted by cross-town rivals Melbourne United at Melbourne Arena. In front of a sold-out crowd of 10,300, the Phoenix won 91–88.[12] The Phoenix played their first home game at Melbourne Arena on 13 October 2019 against the Brisbane Bullets, winning 113–93.[13] The crowd of 6,019 was the highest recorded for an expansion franchise's first home game in league history.[14][non-primary source needed] Despite losing import forward Tai Wesley to injury on opening night, the Phoenix sat in second place with a 5–2 record after the season's first six rounds. From that point, however, they won just four more games to finish their inaugural season in eighth place with a 9–19 record.[15] The Phoenix averaged the highest crowd figures ever for a first-year start-up club in Australian Basketball, with a total of 75,179 fans attending their fourteen home games at an average of 5,369 fans per game.[16][17]

Home arena

Home game of the Phoenix during their 2019–20 debut season at Melbourne Arena
The State Basketball Centre before Phoenix vs Illawarra – 7 February 2021

The Phoenix are headquartered and train at the State Basketball Centre, located in Wantirna South, part of the South-Eastern City of Knox region that forms part of the club's strategic engagement area. The Phoenix play most of their home games at John Cain Arena, which is known as "The Fire Pit" during Phoenix Games. The Phoenix also play a select number of regular season games at the State Basketball Centre each season.[3] During the 2020–21 NBL season, COVID-19 border closures meant that the Phoenix had to relocate their last two home games against the Cairns Taipans and Brisbane Bullets to Cairns Pop-Up Arena. They also hosted their semi-final home game at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.

On 25 January 2022, the Phoenix played a regular season game against the Cairns Taipans at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium (GRISS) in Traralgon.[18][19] The Phoenix returned to GRISS for one game in both the 2022–23 NBL season[20] and 2023–24 NBL season.[21]

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

More information S.E. Melbourne Phoenix roster, Players ...

All-time roster

Main article: South East Melbourne Phoenix all-time roster

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

More information Criteria ...

Honour roll

More information NBL Championships:, Regular Season Champions: ...

Season by season

NBL champions League champions Runners-up Finals berth
More information Season, Tier ...

As of the end of the 2023–24 season

References

  1. [1]
    Ward, Roy (13 July 2018). "Swansea owner wins NBL expansion team, but Melbourne could miss out". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  2. [2]
    "Ball bouncing: Tommy gun as new GM". BotiNagy.com. 23 August 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  3. [3]
    "South East Melbourne to Become NBL's Ninth Team". NBL.com.au. 2 September 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  4. [4]
    Uluc, Olgun (2 September 2018). "NBL's ninth team to be based in South East Melbourne, Victorian Government commits to multimillion-dollar investment". FoxSports.com.au. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  5. [5]
    "NBL expansion: Ninth team confirmed for Melbourne's south east". TheWest.com.au. 2 September 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  6. [6]
    "South East Melbourne Appoint Head Coach". NBL.com.au. 18 October 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  7. [7]
    "South East Melbourne Phoenix Set To Rise". NBL.com.au. 17 November 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  8. [8]
    Uluc, Olgun (17 November 2018). "Introducing the South East Melbourne Phoenix, the NBL's newest franchise". FoxSports.com.au. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  9. [9]
    Arsenis, Damian (17 November 2018). "NBL's ninth team to be the South East Melbourne Phoenix". pickandroll.com.au. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  10. [10]
    Uluc, Olgun (4 December 2018). "Mitch Creek signs with South East Melbourne Phoenix as first marquee player". FoxSports.com.au. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  11. [11]
    Arsenis, Damian (4 December 2018). "Phoenix secure prized signature of Mitch Creek". pickandroll.com.au. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  12. [12]
    "SEM at MEL boxscore". nbl.com.au. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  13. [13]
    "BNE at SEM boxscore". nbl.com.au. 13 October 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  14. [14]
    "NBL on Twitter". Twitter. 13 October 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  15. [15]
    Santamaria, Liam (7 February 2020). "Tommy Greer on SEM's First Season, Roster Building and Pen Pals". nbl.com.au. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  16. [16]
    Santamaria, Liam (9 April 2020). "Big Jump in Attendances For Hungry Jacks NBL". nbl.com.au. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  17. [17]
    "Big Jump in Attendances for Hungry Jack's NBL". nbl.com.au. 9 April 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  18. [18]
    "Phoenix Return to Latrobe City". semphoenix.com.au. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  19. [19]
    "Phoenix Beat Returning Snakes in Gippsland". NBL.com.au. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  20. [20]
    "Phoenix Returns to Gippsland for NBL23". semphoenix.com.au. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  21. [21]
    "Game Day Hub for Gippsland". semphoenix.com.au. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article South_East_Melbourne_Phoenix, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.