United, 36ers … what about the Phoenix?

They’ve 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?

Josh King is known as an elite defensive-minded coach, but the Phoenix are scoring too. Seven times this season they’ve gone above 100 points, including three of their last four. The next best is Melbourne, with four.

They’re shooting the ball incredibly well. Remarkably, they’re putting up more three-point attempts than many NBA teams do across 48-minute games, and they’re hitting them at an impressive 38 per cent.

Chris Anstey even called out South East Melbourne’s imports for their lack of scoring on Thursday, but the team unit is getting the job done at both ends.

Saturday night’s clash against Adelaide shapes as the perfect test of where the Phoenix are at. They need to claim the scalp they couldn’t take against their crosstown rivals, Melbourne, a fortnight ago. Perhaps then, they’ll finally get the respect they deserve.

“They look as cohesive and confident as I’ve seen them in years,” former star Mitch McCarron said on NBL Now.

“It looks like they really get along, they’re really working in the one direction as a team, and you can see that resonates on the court.

“From the start of the year to where they are now, they’re just building and building and building.”

The Phoenix were barely challenged against Brisbane on Thursday night, recording another big 27-point win.

They had five players in double-digit scoring, with Jordan Hunter leading the way with 24 points, including four-of-five from deep.

“They’re just knocking over 100 points consistently and they seem to really understand how they want to play and who they are,” McCarron continued.

“They’re a really tough unit, especially if you’ve got big Jordi knocking the three ball down like that.

“I think they’re a really talented team.”

Arguably the form side in the competition, the Phoenix still sit on the fourth line of betting for this year’s Hungry Jack’s NBL Championship.

Will a win on Saturday night finally get people talking about South East Melbourne as a genuine title hope?