What changed for the Phoenix in 48 hours

Derek Rucker said the South East Melbourne Phoenix had 24 hours to respond after Thursday’s disappointing loss in Brisbane. They answered in emphatic fashion.

Two nights after a 115-105 defeat that coach Josh King called their worst performance of the year, the Phoenix produced their best, crushing the Cairns Taipans 115-83 at John Cain Arena to improve to 3-5.

The response started on the team sheet. King freshened up his starting five, handing starts to Angus Glover and Dash Daniels and sending Skylar Mays to the bench, while Tanner Krebs missed through injury.

“When you’re two and five, that’s what you do,” King said.

It wasn’t perfect early. The Taipans shot 78 per cent in the first quarter and led by as many as 12 before taking a 35-27 lead into quarter-time.

From there, the Phoenix held Cairns to 48 points over the final three quarters, including just 9 in the third.

King was pleased with how his side responded after such a disappointing effort against the Bullets.

“It’s taken us, you know, eight games, but it was a nice response from the guys,” King said.

“It’s not easy to do, coming back and playing on such short turnaround, but we need more of this and we’re capable of this.”

Nathan Sobey was the spark, playing through a corked quad to pile up 24 points by half-time. He finished with 29 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, hitting 7 threes.

“He’s as tough as they come,” King said.

D’Shawn Schwartz held Jack McVeigh to 8 points on 2/8 shooting and finished +31, Daniels was a game-high +36, and Yannis Morin posted 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The bench delivered 43 points, outscoring Cairns’ reserves by 8.

New father Jordan Hunter led the way, returning from the birth of his child to post 19 points, 11 rebounds and 8 offensive boards on 9/12 shooting.

Mays, who had started all season, added 10 points in 18 minutes, while Daniel Foster chipped in 7 points on 3/4 shooting.

King said Mays took the move to the bench in his stride.

“I told Skylar before the game that he wasn’t starting and he gave me a super professional answer, because that’s what he is,” King said. “He said, ‘Let’s go. Let’s go get this game.’

“It’s about the team at the end of the day. It’s not about who really gets to start.”

The Phoenix also dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Taipans 59-34, and Glover said defence is the identity they want to build on.

“To win a championship, you have to be a top two, top three defensive team in the League,” Glover said. “That’s what we’re aiming for.”

King said the challenge now was to make it the standard.

“This was our best performance of the year, I would say, but this is the expectation,” he said.

“It’s not always going to be this easy, but that looked a lot more like what the expectation is each and every night.”

The Phoenix host the Adelaide 36ers next Saturday night.