NBL news 2022: South East Melbourne Phoenix lose another key player ahead of Christmas Eve clash with Adelaide

South East Melbourne is down to one import and will fly to Adelaide for the Christmas Eve clash a player short after yet another injury blow forced a key man out.

South East Melbourne’s dire injury crisis just got a whole lot worse with star big man Alan Williams ruled out of the Christmas Eve clash with Adelaide.

The former NBA big man, on Wednesday, suffered an ankle injury in Phoenix’s win over Brisbane and hasn’t come up for the grudge match in Adelaide.

Phoenix have been hit so hard by injury, they will go into the game one short of a full roster and did not even have time to get paperwork through to add an 11th man for the trip.

It’s a massive blow for the Phoenix, considering Adelaide has just added NBA champion Ian Clark to its bevy of stars on the back of a pair of season-steadying wins.

Williams has been one of the NBL’s best big men, who is second in the league at 9.2 rebounds to go with 16.2 points, and adds to a void that includes injured stars Gary Browne and Ryan Broekhoff, following Chinese centre Zhou Qi’s exit.

Trey Kell is the Phoenix’s only available import after Alan Williams was ruled out with injury. Picture: Getty Images

But with adversity in basketball comes opportunity and the club’s only remaining available import Trey Kell says the Phoenix kids — Junior Madut, Grant Anticevich and development players Owen Foxwell and Anzac Rissetto — will throw caution to the wind.

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“We’re down some key guys but, at the same time, we have a lot of trust and faith in some of the younger guys that helped us win the game up in Brisbane and it will be no different in Adelaide,” Kell said.

“It’s a quick turnaround and back-to-back road games but we’ve got the next-man-up mentality and we have all the confidence in the world that we can take care of business.”

The youngsters were force-fed minutes at the beginning of the season as the Phoenix dealt with a host of injuries and Kell believes that is now paying off.

“With the injuries we dealt with at the beginning of the year, they definitely got a lot more minutes than they were expecting and that helped speed up their development,” Kell said.

“Now it’s starting to pay-off for them when we need it most in the situation we find ourselves.”

With the club’s big-man stocks gutted, heart and soul big man Dane Pineau is likely to start at the four, but expect a healthy dose of Rissetto, the 208cm, 116kg Kiwi man-mountain who, at just 21, has fast become a cult figure after he was plucked by the Phoenix off a worksite where he was working with his dad as a labourer.

MELBOURNE UNITED FORWARD REVEALS TWO-YEAR INJURY STRUGGLE

Re-emergent Melbourne United big man Mason Peatling has revealed he fought a two-year battle with a debilitating knee injury.

Peatling, set to appear in his first open-air contest at John Cain Arena Friday against Cairns, injured his knee in 2020 before he’d even played an NBL game and spent two years managing it before surgery became the only option.

“The first time I got hurt was actually pre-season of my first NBL year, had a bit of a knee complaint and it didn’t really resolve for two seasons,” Peatling told News Corp.

“It was a bit of a grind but (then-teammate) Jack (White) went down (Achilles) about half way through my first year and so I had to push through.

“It just lingered in the second year and, at the end of the season, we looked at all the options we could do surgically to get it improving and it’s so far so good.”

More like very good.

Peatling, after shaking off the rust, played arguably the best game of his NBL career, stepping up with both David Barlow and David Okwera injured, producing a gut-running 19-point, 11-rebound double-double against Illawarra.

Mason Peatling starred against Illawarra. Picture: Getty Images

It’s a nice uptick from a frustrating start to the season, where he missed 10 games as his teammates struggled to put it all together.

“When it rains it pours, so without me, without Big A (Ariel Hukporti, Achilles) at the start of the year, without Shea (Ili, concussion), our team was missing a lot of familiarity,” he said.

“I just wanted to help.”

United, at 8-11, sit outside the top six and the two teams directly above them have each played three less games.

Peatling knows there’s not “much room for error”.

“We have real confidence about our group and the players we have,” he said.

“When we play together we can get the results that we want to get but you’ve just got to take it game-by-game and take on what’s in front of you, we’ll just continue to do that.”

He says the Taipans have established a strong identity around MVP candidate Keanu Pinder.

“They finished last season really well and carried that identity into this one but they’ve also gone one step up and improved,” he said.

“Pinder’s play is amazing and the calibre of player they’ve put around him with perimeter threats like (DJ) Hogg and Shannon (Scott really talented wings.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

***Melbourne United 8-11, 8th v Cairns Taipans 10-6, 4th

Friday, December 23, 7.30pm AEDT, John Cain Arena

Watch on Foxtel and Kayo

HUGE BLOW AS INTERNATIONAL NBL STAR FLIES HOME

South East Melbourne’s towering centre Zhou Qi is leaving the Phoenix this week to return to China.

Qi, 26, will fly home for “family reasons” ahead of Phoenix’s rescheduled Wednesday night clash with the Bullets in Brisbane, without a return date.

South East Melbourne boss Tommy Greer said Qi departs with the club’s blessing.

“Zhou is needed at home at this time, we fully support his decision and remain hopeful he will return and finish the season with the Phoenix,” Greer said.

“We send our best wishes to Zhou’s family.”

Zhou Qi is leaving Melbourne for China. Picture: Getty Images

While Greer hoped Qi would return to Melbourne before season’s end, there is the possibility his NBL23 campaign could be over.

With both Ryan Broekhoff (hip) and Gary Browne (calf) suffering injuries in Sunday’s win over Sydney, it leaves the Phoenix in the dire position of a trip to Brisbane without three key players.

Coach Simon Mitchell was filthy with the league’s decision to replace Covid-hit New Zealand with his side, leaving it to negotiate a trip north a little over 72 hours after the energy-sapping double overtime Kings’ clash.

“I’m not pleased,” Mitchell said after star Mitch Creek poured 46 points on the reigning champs in Traralgon.

Gary Browne has suffered a calf injury. Picture: Getty Images

Scans will reveal the severity of Ryan Broekhoff’s injury. Picture: Getty Images

“You get a double overtime game and guys go down and then you throw in another game through no fault of your own.

“People need to understand when they make these decisions that we work hard … our planning is immaculate … it’s scientific and we prepare certain levels to be at certain dates and then … we’re told ‘you’re playing now, there, you’ll be on the road, you don’t have that training session, you don’t have that recovery session, get on a plane, get on a bus, good luck’.”

“It’s tough and our preparation will be so abhorrent for what these guys need and for what my coaching staff need.

“We wear it, we push through, we’ll butter up in Brisbane and we’ll give them our best.”

Mitchell said Browne and Broekhoff would have scans Monday to determine the severity of their respective injuries and how long — or if — they would spend time off the court.

Originally published as NBL news 2022: South East Melbourne Phoenix lose another key player ahead of Christmas Eve clash with Adelaide