South East Melbourne Phoenix

S.E. Melbourne Phoenix
2023–24 S.E. Melbourne Phoenix season
League	NBL
Founded	2018
History	South East Melbourne Phoenix 2019–present
Arena	John Cain Arena State Basketball Centre
Capacity	10,500 (JC) 3,200 (SBC)
Location	Melbourne, Victoria
Team colours	Black, Green, Grey
General manager	Tommy Greer
Head coach	Mike Kelly
Team captain	Mitch Creek
Ownership	Romie Chaudhari
Website	SEMPhoenix.com.au
Home Away

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.

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. 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. 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. On 18 October 2018, Simon Mitchell was appointed as the inaugural head coach of the team. On 17 November 2018, the team's name was announced as South East Melbourne Phoenix. The team logo and colours were also revealed. On 4 December 2018, former Adelaide 36ers forward Mitch Creek was announced as the team's first marquee signing.

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. The Phoenix played their first home game at Melbourne Arena on 13 October 2019 against the Brisbane Bullets, winning 113–93. The crowd of 6,019 was the highest recorded for an expansion franchise's first home game in league history. 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. 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.

Home arena

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. 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. The Phoenix played another game at GRISS in the 2022–23 NBL season against the Sydney Kings.

• John Cain Arena (2019–present)
• State Basketball Centre (2020–present)
• Cairns Pop-Up Arena (2021)
• Qudos Bank Arena (2021)
• Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium (2022–present)

Current roster

S.E. Melbourne Phoenix roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. C 1 Rissetto, Anzac (DP) 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 116 kg (256 lb) G 2 Kenyon, Matt  1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 91 kg (201 lb) G 6 Stattmann, Kody (DP) 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 91 kg (201 lb) G/F 7 Te Rangi, Reuben 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 105 kg (231 lb) G 10 Ayre, Ben 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) 80 kg (176 lb) F 11 Nader, Abdel (I) 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 102 kg (225 lb) C 12 Gak, Gorjok 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 102 kg (225 lb) G 13 Rosendale, Luke (DP) 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) G 14 Browne, Gary  (I) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 86 kg (190 lb) F/C 15 Williams, Alan  (I) 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 116 kg (256 lb) F 22 Rapp, Austin (DP) 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 106 kg (234 lb) F 25 Vague, Rhys 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 102 kg (225 lb) G 30 Foxwell, Owen 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 81 kg (179 lb) F 33 Moller, Craig  2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 93 kg (205 lb) G/F 55 Creek, Mitch (C) 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 102 kg (225 lb)	Head coach Mike Kelly Assistant coach(es) Luke Brennan Sam Mackinnon Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (IN) Inactive (I) Import player (SRP) Special restricted player (NS) Next Star player Injured Roster Updated: 24 January 2024

All-time roster

Notable players

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

Honour roll

NBL Championships:	0
Regular Season Champions:	0
NBL Finals Appearances:	2 (2021, 2023)
NBL Grand Final appearances:	0
All-NBL First Team:	Mitch Creek (2022/23)
All-NBL Second Team:	Mitch Creek (2020/21, 2021/22)
NBL Rookie of the Year:	N/A
NBL Most Improved Player:	N/A
NBL Coach of the Year:	N/A
NBL Best Sixth Man:	N/A
NBL Best Defensive Player:	N/A
GameTime by Kmart:	Dane Pineau (2019/20), Kyle Adnam (2020/21), Reuben Te Rangi (2022/23)

Season by season

NBL champions

League champions

Runners-up

Finals berth

Season	Tier	League	Regular season					Post-season	Head coach	Captain	Club MVP
			Finish	Played	Wins	Losses	Win %
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix
2019–20	1	NBL	8th	28	9	19	.321	Did not qualify	Simon Mitchell	Mitch Creek Adam Gibson	Mitch Creek
2020–21	1	NBL	4th	36	19	17	.528	Lost semifinals (Melbourne) 1–2	Simon Mitchell	Kyle Adnam Adam Gibson	Keifer Sykes
2021–22	1	NBL	6th	28	15	13	.536	Did not qualify	Simon Mitchell	Kyle Adnam	Mitch Creek
2022–23	1	NBL	5th	28	15	13	.536	Lost play-in qualifier (Perth) 99–106	Simon Mitchell	Kyle Adnam Ryan Broekhoff Mitch Creek	Mitch Creek
Regular season record				120	58	62	.483	0 regular season champions
Finals record				4	1	3	.250	0 NBL championships

As of the end of the 2022–23 season