Phoenix defence shines against Sunrockers

Josh King has his defensive mantra and now has the squad to carry that out in NBL26 which was again on show in Sunday's 85-72 win against Japan's Sunrockers Shibuya at Perth High Performance Centre.

When King was appointed during NBL25, he came with a reputation of being a renowned defensively minded coach who will implore his team to play with a full-court pressure mindset.

He tried to implement that last season and what he did, worked to a great degree as they pushed the eventual champion Illawarra Hawks to three games in a Playoff Series, but now this is the team he wants for NBL26.

They impressed on Friday night in their first game at the International Series in Perth beating the Ryukyu Golden Kings by 15 points.

They backed up on Sunday against another Japanese opponent and by the end of the contest had limited them to 72 points with 44 per cent field goal shooting and forcing them into 21 turnovers.

That helped South East Melbourne end up with 13 extra field goal attempts and nine more free throws in the eventual 13-point victory.

Scores were locked at 19-19 by quarter-time but the Phoenix worked on top in the second term with 30 points to 16 and by half-time Owen Foxwell and Angus Glover had combined for 20 points even though as a team they shot 2/15 from downtown.

South East Melbourne then scored the first six points of the second half forcing the Sunrockers into an early timeout. The lead ended up getting to as much as 22 points with the Phoenix ending up scoring the 13-point win.

There was plenty to be encouraged about with what South East Melbourne did with Glover top-scoring with 17 points, five rebounds and two assists with 3/7 three-point shooting.

Foxwell showed again why coach King is backing him in as starting point guard with another 13 points, four steals and three assists while DJ Mitchell chimed in with nine points, four boards, two assists and two steals.

New import guard Hunter Maldonado added nine points, 10 rebounds and three assists, Jordan Hunter nine points and two boards, Gorjok Gak eight points and five rebounds, John Brown III six points and two steals, and Next Star Malique Lewis six points, four boards and three assists.

Josh Hawkinson again impressed despite the loss for Shibuya top-scoring with 19 points to go with seven rebounds on 3/4 three-point shooting.

Donte Grantham added 16 points, seven rebounds and two blocks including a monster dunk late with former Sydney Kings NBL Next Star Didi Louzada ending up with nine points, four assists and three rebounds.

The Phoenix will now return home to Melbourne and get ready for their NBL26 season-opener this coming Saturday night when they play host to the Cairns Taipans at John Cain Arena.

FULL TIME STATS

Glover: 17p/5r/2a/1stl
Foxwell: 13p/3a/4stls
Hunter: 9p/2r/1a
Maldonado: 9p/10r/3a/1stl
Mitchell: 9p/4r/2a/2stls
Gak: 8p/5r/1blk
Brown III: 6p/1r/2stls
Lewis: 6p/4r/3a/1stl
Bleijenbergh: 5p/2r/3a
Ryan: 3p/4r
Biggar: 1stl

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