NBL: Simon Mitchell leaves South East Melbourne Phoenix

Outgoing South Melbourne Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell has revealed his plan to stay in basketball as a host of the sport’s biggest names are linked with his former job at the NBL club.

In the end, Simon Mitchell had nothing left to give.

The only mentor South East Melbourne has ever known will depart the Phoenix, both coach and his good mate, club boss Tommy Greer, deciding it was best to move in different directions.

“We got together (for our review), we sat down, looked at each other and just smiled and said ‘OK, I think it’s time’,” Mitchell, flanked by Greer, said, during a rare amicable split between coach and club.

“At the end of the day, I’ve given all I’ve got.

“I was having a word with one of the other coaches in the league, he called me asking how things were going and he said ‘mate, you’re insane, just hold on, keep going’ and I was like ‘Nah, I just can’t do that, it’s not how I operate’.

“It’s time for someone else to push this thing forward.”

Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell has called time on his time at South East Melbourne, in an amicable split with chief executive Tommy Greer. Picture: Phoenix Media.

Mitchell led the expansion Phoenix to three winning records in the franchise’s first four NBL campaigns and two postseason appearances but often bore the brunt of criticism when the club suffered failure. In each season, the Phoenix endured injuries to multiple key players that made Mitchell’s job more difficult and, after back-to-back 15-win records, he said the club had “stagnated”.

“If we had a pre-season like we did this year again, I would end up walking away and that’s not the time to do it, so you do it beforehand,” Mitchell said.

“I couldn’t, realistically, go into free agency and say I’m looking forward to watching hundreds and hundreds of hours of film (of potential recruits) over the next couple of weeks … I don’t want to do it.

“As soon as you start thinking that way, it’s over.”

Simon Mitchell watches on during the Phoenix’s inaugural season.

The father of three did well to hold back tears as he spoke of his family and friends, a tinge of lament in his plan to make up for lost time with his loved ones.

“Special thank you to the most important people in the world, my wife Kerryn, my daughters Frankie and Mackenzie and my son Spencer, they’ve had to go without their dad (being around enough) for five years,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to catching up with my mates, I’ve missed them.

“I took a phone call from someone who had a possible offer overseas and, for the first time in my life (at Phoenix) I thought about other jobs,” he said.

“Then I had a phone call from some mates who’d just come back from a concert over in the states. I was sitting on my couch with my daughter, she’s 11 years old and she just said ‘dad, I’ve never seen you so happy’ and I was like ‘yeah, we were talking about me taking a job over there and we were just having fun with it’.

“On top of the dedication, you need what it gives back to you and, if you can’t enjoy the wins and the frustrations supersede the joy, then it’s time to go.”

Simon Mitchell gets Phoenix players ready for their inaugural NBL campaign.

The 50-year-old departs Phoenix as its most impactful figure, Greer said, and, while there’s some sadness that he won’t be there moving forward, the club’s chief executive said it was also a celebration of his friend’s achievements.

“It’s difficult to put succinctly into a sentence but being that we’re such a young franchise, there’s really not anyone who's had more of an impact on this franchise in this point of its history,” Greer said.

“He was the third person hired and, to start it from nothing but a piece of paper — we had no budget, no office, no training facility, no laptops, we had nothing.

“So to get it to a point where we are an established, well-regarded franchise within the NBL with the success we’ve had in such a short time frame is largely due to the work and effort that Simon’s put in.”

Greer now turns his attention to finding Mitchell’s replacement — with free agency looming and only star Mitch Creek, gun import big Alan Williams and tough forward Reuben Te Rangi under contract.

The search will include the likes of coaching GOAT Brian Goorjian, five-time NBL champion Trevor Gleeson along with former Phoenix assistant Judd Flavell and Goorjian’s Boomers understudy Mike Kelly — who, in 1996, made his NBL playing debut for a different incarnation of South East Melbourne, the Magic.

“We’ll start the process almost immediately … as a club we need to continue to move forward and that would be the only way to honour the work and the effort that Simon’s put into the club,” Greer said.

“Sometimes you need to work in less than ideal circumstances, we’ve seen it many times throughout the NBL with coaches and different positions being hired late in the piece and at different moments throughout the year, so we’ll do the best with the hand we have and we’re confident, as we’ve done every year previously, of putting together a strong team.”

Simon Mitchell departs as South East Melbourne’s most influential figure.

As for Mitchell, the music lover is already packing his schedule with gigs and, while he has a background in finance, he said the hardwood was still where his future lay.

“I’m going to enjoy the Megadeth tour, Smashing Pumpkins are touring with Jane’s Addiction, Trivium are going to be in town, Amon Amarth, I’m going to enjoy being with my friends, being with my family,” he said.

“It’ll be the first break I’ve had in five years — I probably should have taken some breaks in between.

“My first full-time job in basketball, I think I took about an $80,000 pay cut. I worked about 30 hours more a week. My starting time was three hours earlier and I’d get to Sandringham stadium wiping floors at 6am.

“The smell of the pine, the walk into the gym, were the happiest moments of my life.

“So, to go back into trying to hawk money to people, I doubt it.

“Basketball’s where my passion is.”

Originally published as NBL: Simon Mitchell leaves South East Melbourne Phoenix