“I hope to catch up with him on Saturday morning,” Mitchell said with a laugh.
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“We haven’t had Zhou Qi for the last week and we missed him. The guys really enjoy his company and having to prepare for this weekend without him has been difficult.
“Our expectation is that Zhou Qi will be ready and right to go.”
The Breakers have had their own battles withCOVID-19 after it hit nine people in their 39-person travelling party including coach Dan Shamir and two players.
Assistant coach Mody Maor will lead the side and Mitchell admits it will be tough to know who will be suiting up and how they will play when the team has battled much turmoil.
The Phoenix come in with confidence after forward Ryan Broekhoff’s match-winning fourth term in the preseason win over Melbourne United last Sunday scoring 21 points and making some deep three-pointers in the final term.
“I want to expand from being just a spot-up shooter to be more involved in all facets of the game,” Broekhoff said.
“I got into a rhythm in that fourth quarter and the team did such a good job of finding me,I think I ran off four screens in one possession and they were just doing whatever they could to get me involved while I was feeling like that.
“That is going to be us all year,it might be me one night,Mitch Creek another night or Kyle Adnam or Xavier Munford.
“When one guy gets going we are going to keep them rolling and feed off that energy.”
NBL Round One
Friday
Tasmania JackJumpers 83 d Brisbane Bullets 74 in OT at MyState Bank Arena,Hobart
The JackJumpers wrote a new page in NBL history winning their inaugural regular season game and becoming the first team to go to overtime in their first game with Brisbane star Nathan Sobey’s contentious ejection in the extra session a talking point and JackJumpers import Josh Adams scoring a game-high 20 points in front of a sell-out crowd of 4738.
Perth Wildcats 85 d Adelaide 36ers 73,RAC Arena,Perth
New Wildcats import Vic Law gave 11,950 locals plenty to cheer about with a game-high 37 points to spearhead the victory over the preseason-cup winning Sixers. NBA Draft candidate Luke Travers had an assured 15 points for Perth starting his season with an impressive display.
Saturday
South East Melbourne Phoenix 89 d New Zealand Breakers 65,John Cain Arena,Melbourne
Boomers bronze medallist Duop Reath scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds in his NBL debut,Justinian Jessup had 17 points while Xavier Rathan-Mayes caught fire in the fourth term to finish with 15 points.
Adelaide’s Cam Bairstow top-scored with 15 points for the Sixers,who conceded 21 turnovers.
Sydney Kings 79 d Melbourne United 74,Qudos Bank Arena
Matthew Dellavedova’s Melbourne United debut wasn’t a victorious one against a lightning-fast Sydney Kings,but a dogged final quarter almost saw the visitors steal the win.
The Kings were by far the better and faster team,taking a double-figure lead in the second term,which went out to 21 points. But a sloppy final quarter saw Dellavedova and New Zealand guard Shea Ili lead a fightback to within three points.
Ili launched a desperation three to try and force overtime with three seconds to play,but it missed as the Kings claimed a 79-74 in front of 8632 fans in Sydney.
Perth Wildcats 90 d Cairns Taipans 67,RAC Arena
A Bryce Cotton masterclass saw the Wildcats to a 2-0 start from their two home games as the three-time MVP scored a game-high 31 points,all of them in the opening three quarters,while young forward Luke Travers pulled in 14 rebounds.
The Taipans were led by Kouat Noi who scored 12 of his 17 points early in the game.
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