They\u2019ve won seven of their last eight games and are sitting nicely in third place on the NBL standings, but are the South East Melbourne Phoenix still flying under the radar when it comes to their Championship hopes?<\/p>\n
Josh King is known as an elite defensive-minded coach, but the Phoenix are scoring too. Seven times this season they\u2019ve gone above 100 points, including three of their last four. The next best is Melbourne, with four.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re shooting the ball incredibly well. Remarkably, they\u2019re putting up more three-point attempts than many NBA teams do across 48-minute games, and they\u2019re hitting them at an impressive 38 per cent.<\/p>\n
Chris Anstey even called out South East Melbourne\u2019s imports for their lack of scoring on Thursday, but the team unit is getting the job done at both ends.<\/p>\n
Saturday night\u2019s clash against Adelaide shapes as the perfect test of where the Phoenix are at. They need to claim the scalp they couldn\u2019t take against their crosstown rivals, Melbourne, a fortnight ago. Perhaps then, they\u2019ll finally get the respect they deserve.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey look as cohesive and confident as I\u2019ve seen them in years,\u201d former star Mitch McCarron said on NBL Now.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like they really get along, they\u2019re really working in the one direction as a team, and you can see that resonates on the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the start of the year to where they are now, they\u2019re just building and building and building.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Phoenix were barely challenged against Brisbane on Thursday night, recording another big 27-point win.<\/p>\n
They had five players in double-digit scoring, with Jordan Hunter leading the way with 24 points, including four-of-five from deep.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re just knocking over 100 points consistently and they seem to really understand how they want to play and who they are,\u201d McCarron continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a really tough unit, especially if you\u2019ve got big Jordi knocking the three ball down like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they\u2019re a really talented team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arguably the form side in the competition, the Phoenix still sit on the fourth line of betting for this year\u2019s Hungry Jack\u2019s NBL Championship.<\/p>\n
Will a win on Saturday night finally get people talking about South East Melbourne as a genuine title hope?<\/p>\n
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