Phoenix, coach face tough questions after year goes down in flames
SOUTH East Melbourne is facing one of the biggest decisions in its young history.
Stick with the only coach the fouryear-old franchise has known or move in a different direction?
Out-of-contract Simon Mitchell will take part in an all-encompassing review before the club makes a call on his future, on the back of a 15-win, fifth-place finish that ended in Thursday night’s 106-99 play-in loss to Perth.
Up by double digits in the last quarter, the Phoenix should have cruised, but the Wildcats’ triple MVP, Bryce Cotton, had other ideas, catching fire, as he so often does, to end their season in heartbreak.
Mitchell knows they should have won – it is “one of the most disappointing losses I’ve ever been a part of” – but now he, too, has his own question to answer: does he still want to do it?
“It’s one of those things where I think we’ll let the dust settle,” Mitchell said.
“In time, we’ll sit down, have a discussion, review the season forensically, and we’ll go, ‘am I the best man for the job’.
“If so, we’ll move forward, maybe. Do I want to do it again? I’ll discover that over the next couple of weeks as we review the season – and if the club wants me back.”
He has polarised Phoenix fans over the journey.
His players and the organisation love him dearly – which makes the club’s decision harder.
But there has been a negative perception that routinely bubbles on social media and culminated, postgame, with calls for his sacking.
The team has attracted criticism for its inability to contain opposing teams and it would irk Mitchell this season was its best finish in defensive rating – fifth. The expansion club made the NBL finals in its second campaign and was back in the postseason after narrowly missing the top four in 2021.
Fellow expansion club Tasmania’s immediate success – a grand final backed up by a top-four finish – has not helped but, in the majority of cases, expansion clubs need to walk before they can run.