NBL NOW | Phoenix the Real Deal as They Push Championship Favourites Aside

Hello and welcome to MVL now brought to you by code sports your number one for MVL coverage. We are still on a high after a huge weekend at Hoots Fest. It was the credible celebration of basketball and his culture. We saw five MVL games four WNBL games, crowd records and plenty of talking points to come out of it. I'm Kelsey Brown with you today and today for the first time I'm joined with the two-time MVL champion Andrew Parkinson Parky. Welcome. Good to have you. Thanks a lot Kelsey and happy belated birthday to for the other day that that looks like a very scrumptious looking cake to the Vashorani. I know very lucky to have been celebrated live on air. I never thought that I would cut a cake whilst doing a show as well but a beautiful weekend at Hoots Fest. We hit crowd records. 25% up year on year. Did you get around the Hoots Fest fund? How did you find the viewing if you're on TV? How did you find everything and do you feel like Hoots Fest is a mainstay in now in MVL? I think it is. It was great. I could really feel the excitement come through the TV screen, sitting in my cabs watching it all and I thought it was great. I think what also added to it and I think it's great. I don't know if they did this by Desire and Kelsey but to have it at that 75% mark of the season when there was a lot of talk about bringing in imports. We got to see John Jenkins for the first time. There was a shame we didn't get to see Tory Craig playing for the Kings but I guess the Kings had that early game in Hoots Fest and we're all waiting with baited breath to see if Perth we're going to pick up somebody which they didn't which I think we're going to touch on a bit later. So now I thought it was great. I think it's good to have it during that season, especially when you're in that sort of 75% mark of the season. When we first started Hoots Fest, it kicked off the 2024 season so now it's you know, later on in the season we had plenty more to talk about and there was a lot of things coming out of the weekend and the weekend's games. Let's talk about the big man chat though. It's been a talking point across the season for a long time, especially at the start of the year we had Javail McGee coming into the league. Sam and Engers up there at the moment will Magne which will touch on his potential injury as well. But Jesse Edwards for me, he was the big man of the weekend. He was the one that really pulled Melbourne United over the line when they needed it most. Oh, he did. He had 21 and 10 in 23 minutes as well as two blocks and two steals and he got in a couple of fairs early but besides that he only ended up with three fairs so he didn't get in fair trouble and of course he was matched up against one of the most informed big men in the league and that's Magne. So I thought he was crucial in that win and it was good to see him sort of back to his early season form that actually earned him number four in Derrick Rutgers top 15 list. So he hadn't been playing like that recently Klaus but I think that game against Tazzy really showed that yeah he was hopefully back to that early season form. I think Derrick Rutger was sweating on that a little bit when Melbourne United to drop in form. He was I think he was sweating on that but Will Magne, we saw him leave the court didn't return. It's now since come out that he left the stadium on crutches. It could be a concern for a recurring injury. We know he was out for a long period of time with that fractured toe. He's such an important cog to the Tasmania Jack Jumpers. We've just talked about them potentially going on a run and being the team that you don't want to meet in playoffs. How big is that of an impact to Tazzy and and how how do they recover from maybe a loss of Will Magne? Ah huge and we talked about how great hoop fest was. That was the only negative I think for the whole weekend was to see him go down but just got there to him back together basically or except for Seani McDonald who's out for the season but yeah to get Magne back and the way he'd been playing I think it's pretty safe to say. I don't think it's a big a big call to say that he's the one player that Tazzy I guess couldn't afford to lose if they've got a chance of winning the championship and you know the next game up without Magne's against the Kings. So you know they lose that one. They've got New Zealand breathing down their neck you know for that six spots so that was a real that was a real blow for Tazzy and the league to be honest. Yeah I think we thought that with Tasmania moving how they were moving the six may have been locked up but in true MVL fashion New Zealand are coming in and Tazzy need to win these next few games. Now you're well versed in the most improved player you want it back in 1991 so I have to ask you is Sam Nenger the most improved player of the New Zealand out not of the New Zealand breakers of MVL this season. Well firstly thanks for mentioning then I won the award back in 1991 which is 35 years ago I think that's maybe in before you were born Kelsey. Just going to say I wasn't even here yet. There you go. So do I am I still qualified after 35 years? You're just as qualified as ready to talk about this but no I'm Nenger not Nenger's been playing great but look my pick or currently is fling Cameron for most improved. I just think a guy that was on the bench in a championship contender for the last two seasons now he's on you know a starter on a championship contender. Look he's averaging 12.3 assists in five rebounds he's shooting 50% from the field 41% from three and if you don't mind 84% from the free throw line so if he if he got his free throws going he'd be in that elusive 50/40/90 club so this kid and he handles the ball a lot and he's only averaging one turn over a game so for me I think coming from being a bench guy and when I won it well thus years ago I was a bench guy and then I got to start and then obviously had a good season to win the award and I think I see similarities with fling Cameron I do have to give an honorable mention not only to Nenger of course but to Owen Foxwell and Josh Bannon I think those two guys had definitely you know raised their game you know to another level so but yeah for me I think it's um yeah it's fling Cameron at the moment sort of and we saw how poised he is in that position I mean we don't have to look too far back and he he hit that game winner against Perth in the Bryce Cotton return game and we all wanted Bryce to hit I know you did Calce we all wanted Bryce to the fairy tale to hit that shot but fling Cameron summed up a situation as a point guard and you know dribbled in and got that left hand lap and went and won the game for him because you could see they were top blocking over playing Bryce everyone knew it was going to go to Brite well figured it was going to go to Bryce but fling said no no no I got this and you know I think uh yeah he's the most improved player for me absolutely well I think all the players that you mentioned Manenga fling Cameron Josh Bannon Owen Foxwell have all shown massive maturity growth in their games this year I feel like in the crunch time they are the players of their team especially Josh Bannon sometimes in Tazzi he he is the man so plenty of discussion around awards season which is coming up and most improved player as well but let's do a little bit of a fun one who are your top five big men in order at the moment I did this with Chris Ants do not that long ago he had to bail McGee at the top desperate to know where you have people sitting well I've actually got uh to bail McGee in the number one spot as well and uh purely because of his statistics I know he's on a losing team but you can't ignore and as Derek Rucker looks to fire out there the the advanced metrics so I did a bit of study on this Kelsen look Jerville McGee he's basically leading the league in rebounds I think he and Cheetahman basically neck and neck he's leading the league in block shots and he's averaging more points than any other big man in the league so I've got JLA at number one averaging 21 and 10 for the season and uh you want me to go through the list yeah I want you to go one to five okay number two or got JLA okay he's averaging 17 and six then I've got Edwards who's averaging about 14 and eight and then I've got Meninga and then this is the controversial one because I didn't know whether to put in Jordy Hunter or Isaac Humphries but I went with Isaac Humphries purely because he's got that nice little two man going you know with Bryce cotton and he's in the top the top two I do also want to give some honorable mentions and the only reason I didn't put Magna and Harrison and Sam trolling in that list is because the body of work hasn't been as complete as the other guys so I think with Harrison out I think he probably would have made Magna would probably make it you know if he'd played a full season so so start picking that list apart Kelsey no I was going to say I mean the best thing about it is you've named eight big guys across the league that I'm sure if you asked anyone to rank one to five we'd get a number of different combinations that's how strong that category of player is and I've been intrigued to see the development of the big man across the season and Isaac Humphries was up there at the start of the season he's potentially fallen off for some people but other people think that he's the big man of the league so I love the chat around it I'm sure we're going to have a lot of people jumping in and giving their two cents worth as well but let's move on because we had so many big games over the weekend you mentioned off the top the signings that could have potentially happened especially with the Perth Wildcats we didn't know whether they were going to bring in an import we know that John really is out for the season he had surgery on that hamstring they left it to the 11th hour and I spoke to Mark Arena and he said it was still three o'clock on deadline day that we still didn't know and I think that just speaks volumes about where they were sort of headed what they want to back in and yeah they've ended up going with no import point guard they're going to back in David Duke to come back from his rehab what do you make of the decision yeah well it's easy for me to sit here and say yeah they should have picked up a you know another import and they brought him in and that way you know if Duke Jr did get to come back you know then they sort of had the choice and then they've got four imports for the playoff run so someone gets injured so that would be a great luxury to have but I guess that would cost money so it's easy for me to sit here and say they should have done that especially losing Jaren really I think they really do need that help you know with another ball handler so I was a little surprised they didn't they didn't make the move for whatever reason that was whether they was availability or whether it was a financial economical sort of decision but I really felt like you know they needed to sort of pick someone up to help them in that area but look they've got faith in David Duke Jr so yeah we'll see how that plays out yeah it's one of those ones you do or you don't and now you have to back in the team that you've got which is the likes of Doolittle Windler JLA they're big names they're big players that we've seen really dominate performances this year they're hunting down that fourth position do you think the group that they've got at the moment now that they've chosen to go with it how do you think they managed to win this thing with the with the players that I've just mentioned yeah look I still think they should be looking at that that top four spot because what what they're records 15 and 10 and United are in a fourth at 16 and 10 so they're not that far away and yeah I guess it depends how quickly David Duke Jr comes back and that's where there's a lot of pressure on him to come back and that's why I would have loved it if they did pick up someone else because then they wouldn't have to rush him back you know and they could do a situation have a bit bit of a situation like Tazzie did with Starks you know they could bring someone in and say look we're you know we're only bringing you in to tell our guy gets better and then when he comes in then you've got the sort of choice and that's like stability so I think it would have helped him to pick up someone but I still I still think that they can sort of jump into that top four spot and look even even maybe a top two if they get rolling it's one of those things like you said do they do it do they not do it but I guess now they've sent a message the positive side of it is that they've sent a message to Ben Henshell and Elijah Pepper saying we we have faith in you we trust you you're our guys they've stepped into that point guard role as much as many people have talked about whether they were the right people for the job it says to Ben Henshell and Elijah Pepper we've got you back now how much does that give confidence to especially young players in a unit like Perth yeah well that's a great way of looking at it and I think that's the way that I think John really in the management would have played and said look hey we think we've got enough we believe in you guys so yeah I think that's something that the team can definitely sort of galvanise around and say hey look you know here we are we've only got a couple of imports at the moment waiting for Dave to come back but you know we've got this and you know the confidence that you know they had a good game against the Hawks the other night and I think you know the way do little's playing JLA is to start to come good you know windless playing great so I think these guys yeah I think these guys have enough you know to sort of correct that top four and I can see you huh Peter Hoolie smiling in the background because I think Perth Perth was his pick from the very beginning and there was a time there when yeah things weren't looking that great but yeah if they can improve their their home record as well I think that's gonna you know help a lot in the back end of this or the pointy end of the season I think a lot of the experts are waiting to see how this next month plays out because their reputations are on the line with the way too early predictions which I just chose sort of doubt of this year it's far too hard we have massive games over the weekend at Hoopsfest it started off on Thursday night Sydney and Brisbane and Melbourne and Tazzy played on Saturday night but probably the best one of the weekend and the one that everyone was tuned in for was South East Melbourne and the Adelaide 36 is that much up for South East Melbourne was one that they desperately needed to win just to head into this playoffs this this finals um period of time and knowing that they've beaten the top team Adelaide have been up there in favourites for the last four weeks that win was huge no Nathan Soby Ian Clark who had come in and and probably not showed what he could do to begin with comes out has a 27 point game drags them over the line I sorry but I am mind blown at the South East Melbourne Phoenix unit at the moment are they the new favourites of the NBL this season? Well they should be considered you know in their conversation because they're playing unbelievably well and they're averaging 99.2 points a game and you know for them as you mentioned the game they had in Hoopsfest over in Perth I mean to you know to beat Adelaide is convincing as they did without Soby is just a really great sign for them and not only that the the tempo they play and the points they put on the board they can still afford Bryce Bryce had 30 points you know and normally if Bryce Katniss it's 30 points normally his team wins I'd say that there's a stat out there that would probably prove that and you know but not against the Phoenix they were in control of that game from the start to the finish they were never in doubt and they ended up winning it by 19 20 points whatever it was so I think it's time to start giving this team some respect give them some flowers Absolutely well on overtime last night Damon Lowry said South East Melbourne Phoenix are the most disrespected team in the league when you think about it Melbourne United have been on a slide up until the weekend they'd lost eight of their last ten games and I think there's still the feeling that Melbourne United in a playoff series is much more trusted than as South East Melbourne Phoenix but I just don't think that you can sit there and say that at the moment do you think that they're being disrespected by a lot of people why is it that people can't see South East Melbourne Phoenix sitting where they're sitting at the moment yeah well I think it's a little bit of that sort of big brother little brother thing in Melbourne we've got going here where United sort of got that respect and never that respect you know over the course you know of the franchise and but I think we've got to start giving that same respect to the Phoenix and the way they've gone about this year I mean they lost the first two throw downs against United but then they beat them quite convincingly so I'm really looking forward to that game coming up in February where yeah because I'm you know I think little brother might you know might be able to beat up big brother and if they do in that one then I think we can definitely sort of say look you know because that'll probably ensure that they're ahead of them on the ladder so but yeah they're ahead of them on the ladder at the moment the second and you know they're in fourth but yeah well we've got to we've got to see how this Phoenix the way they play we've got to see how this stacks up and play off basketball because playoff basketball is a whole different ballgame but yeah the Phoenix have got this this identity I mean when you think of all the teams in the league if you if you you know they know you know everyone knows what they're like they've got this identity and it's in the way they play and they put up those numbers and we saw the depth in that team to do that without their MVP Nathan Soby you know I think just showed great silence and going ahead that's going to be awesome because as you said Ian Clark got his Mojo back with his 27 points for four assists and three rebounds so he's got back they all had great games you know we talk about John Brown and a Wunder you know they they're in double figures they contributed uh Jordy Hunter in that game in 21 minutes had 20 points and 9 rebounds uh you know Foxy had his sort of standout game with 12 assists 15 points 12 assists so yeah I think they definitely had that next man up mentality and um it just showed you know truly the depth that they have I love what you said about the identity I think lots of people would say that's how these Melbourne Phoenix you know what you're going to get and Josh King has been very clear on what their identity is just lastly out of late 36's I'm sure for a period of time in the middle of this season at the start of the year we thought it was Melbourne United no one was going to beat them out of the late 36's have been the team for the last month do you think that was a wake-up call they needed just to say hey everyone in the league this thing is not over any given day you can win Tazzie's proven that recently this thing isn't over and Adelaide needed that wake-up call this point of the season yeah I think they did but they also had a wake-up call the game before when they lost to Tazzie as you mentioned you know at home by eight points they only scored 72 points so Tazzie you know really played that different style the guy probably the exact opposite to the way Phoenix played so we saw the 36's lose to a team that sort of slows it down a little bit and they won I think 80 to 72 or something like that and then we saw them lose to a team like the Phoenix where they lost what 108 to 89 whatever it was so so it's a little bit concerning that you know you know they're on a two-game losing streak but they banked so many wins early that I think they they deserve to be where they are and I don't think we're going to ride them off yet but I think we can definitely say it was another slap in the face when you know Tazzie sort of slapped him in the face and then the Phoenix slapped him in the other cheek and I think now they're sort of they're going to wake up and yeah I expect them to make a lot of adjustments but yeah that they would be they would be a little bit consumed with those last two losses Parkie I have to mention this though because I've I've just found out that Chris Golding is your all-time favourite player he becomes only the 15th player in history to play 500 this weekend it's a huge achievement I know I just know you've got something that you want to tell me about Chris Golding I've got lots of stories that I've even got a prop calcium look at this I've got my prop here put it on look at it Melbourne Tigers Chris Golding I knew him back in the days when he was called Bubbles but now we see G 43 but but now I love the guy I think when you think of Chris Golding you think if he's early days of the Gold Coast Blaise when they used to call him the he looked like the pool guy he had the weird looking haircut now he's got the fresh fade going now that he's a bit older but he's grand final performance in NNBL 18 2018 when they won the championship he was the grand final MVP he won the Larry Sandstock medal and of course he's a bronze medalist okay which can never be taken away from him which is a huge huge achievement but but in saying all that and how great he is he's actually a smart-ass calcium okay see this this top here I don't know if you can see but he's signed it for me two parakeet congratulations to the 49 point club signed Chris Golding career high 50 points okay because I had 49 points calcium but it was actually 50 because I counted my last three as a two and it was actually a three so yeah so he's a bit of a smart-ass but he's my he's still my favorite player and I love the guy and I do feel from a little bit because look I'm knowing you the shooter or as good as Chris Gold okay I wanted to be like him but I would have loved to have been like him I should say but the one thing I do understand is when you're the best shooter on the team and the way the defense plays you is very difficult because and when he steps on the court the whole defense is geared around him to not get a three-pointer and you see the way Sidney played him with Bullquil where they top blocked him and you know they're basically just played four on four and that can be really helpful at times so he can help the team sometimes even when he's not scoring because he's basically drawing you know that gravitational pull that they have so so I'm glad we got the Chris Golding shed in Kelsey because yeah he's one of my favorites I think he's still got a couple of years left in him as well absolutely regardless of any of that he'll still probably go down as one of the best to do it especially in Melbourne Parkie thank you so much for your time love sitting down with you and talking to the experts about their thoughts on the season we're getting to the exciting part now playoffs are just around the corner for you at home make sure you tune into MBL now this week tomorrow I'll be sitting down with Casey Prader to talk all things Ignite car and we've got a big round 18 coming up for you in MBL