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SOUTH East Melbourne's announcement this week it is taking up its contract option and reappointing coach Simon Mitchell for NBL 2021-22 was timely ahead of the Phoenix's maiden playoff campaign in just its second season.

It speaks to the club's confidence in what he has produced over two injury-ravaged years and what yet lays ahead this season.

“We’ve achieved a little bit of success so far but we’ve got a long way to go and going into a third year, I think we can really solidify where we’re at as a club," a happy Mitchell said.

“The program has come a long way. We were a piece of paper with an idea and now we’re on the verge of making playoffs inside two years."

In contrast to tonight's opponent Brisbane, the Bullets now are searching for a replacement for coach Andrej Lemanis who is bound for Japan when the club's 2021 campaign concludes.

Nathan Sobey's addition to the Tokyo Olympic squad should buoy the boys, especially after beating Perth. But then the Phoenix beat Melbourne at their last outing so what a gem this fixture should be to tip off "Part 2" of Round 19.

  ROUND 19 (Part 2) 

HOME team Brisbane and visitor South East Melbourne come into this clash with confidence and morale-boosting wins over the top two, Perth and Melbourne respectively. The Phoenix is intent on locking down third, the Bullets in a threeway tussle with Illawarra and Sydney for fourth. All the ingredients are there for a cracker of a clash, marquee players such as Keifer Sykes and Mitch Creek (SEM) and Lamar Patterson and Nathan Sobey (BB) sure to mix the solid with the spectacular. This is an even money bet but I'm leaning to SEM.

THEY'VE done it before so there's no reason to emphatically rule out Adelaide upsetting Perth. With Josh Giddey and Isaac Humphries done for the season, the task becomes Herculean for the 36ers, Sunday Dech sure to be stretched containing Bryce Cotton, while Daniel Johnson and Keanu Pinder have their hands full with John Mooney and Will Magnay. If Todd Blanchfield or Clint Steindl also catch fire, Adelaide will be under enormous pressure. Or, then again, maybe it is under no pressure with all expectations removed. Hmm.

THIS is a straightforward case of "must win or you're delusional about playoffs." The Illawarra Hawks, offensive limitations notwithstanding, must surely take out hapless Cairns and do it with some measure of conviction to convince the naysayers they are a genuine chance to take that available fourth place. Starting the season with flourish in Cairns, hosting the Taipans now - and yes, Illawarra is down Cam Bairstow and Deng Adel but the Orange miss Cam Oliver and Kouat Noi - means a definite W or the Hawks can forget a post-season.

TEND to wonder who league owner Larry Kestelman barracks for whenever his beloved United meet his "skins" team Brisbane. My guess is probably that "basketball is the winner." In this instance, what would be better for the NBL? Melbourne taking another step toward consolidating first place with its home court advantages? Or Brisbane also making the finals, giving LK a semi final showdown of his two teams? That's a tough call but it's not my call so I'm sticking with the in-form United to keep moving forward.

CANNOT help feeling the end of the NBL season for the Breakers will resemble more of a Harlem Globetrotters-style tour of New Zealand, with matches slated for venues in Auckland, New Plymouth, Christchurch, Rotorua etcetera. Everyone in NZ will have a chance to see their own team live and it very much looks as if it will be a victory lap, with incoming teams such as the Adelaide 36ers merely playing the role of the New York Nationals or Washington Senators - you know, the Globetrotters' patsies. Finn Delany = Meadowlark Lemon.

Safest Bet of the Round: No-one in New Zealand will receive free cheeseburgers when opponents miss both free throws. (You get burgers in the land of the long white cloud if the Breakers break 90 points, or, in the words of TV caller Casey Frank "We reward excellence here in New Zealand."