‘Night and day’: Sobey hails Dash Daniels’ Phoenix rise

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Nathan Sobey ($379,600) declared NBL Next Star Dash Daniels ($115,000) is "going to be a huge piece of what we do" after the 18-year-old had 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists in South East Melbourne Phoenix's 113-96 win against the Illawarra Hawks in Round 3 of NBL27 on Sunday, October 4, 2026.

"It's night and day from the Dash we saw last year to what we're seeing now, and you continue to see it evolve game by game," Sobey said.

"He's going to continue to do that over the stretch for us, and he's going to be a huge piece of what we do.

"Again, back to our style of play, I think it really suits what he wants to do, and we're starting to see his talents come out."

Daniels left Melbourne United in the off-season, spent time in Atlanta, Georgia, working on his game, and has come back for his second NBL season stronger, with improved shooting and more confidence.

"I liked that at the end of the game, I looked at the stat sheet and he had 16, eight and six, and I didn't even know it while the game was going on," Phoenix head coach Josh King said.

"Like Sobs just said, his style fits. That's why he's here, the way we want to play. We want to attack on defence and attack on offence.

"He's playing well, and he's playing with a lot of confidence, so it's fun to see."

Sobey himself had the best game of his injury-interrupted season: He top-scored with 24 points and six assists on 8-from-16, including 4-from-9 from three and 4-from-4 at the line.

"I haven't played a whole ton of minutes so far this season, so to be able to get home and get it on our terms," Sobey said.

"Josh made an emphasis in our team meeting before the game: we didn't play the way we wanted to play in Perth. We didn't speed them up on both ends of the floor.

"That's my job as a leader of the club, to listen to what coach has planned for the game and try to execute it the best way we can."

Illawarra, coming off a big-time win against the Adelaide 36ers on Friday night, kept it tight early and were level at 23 at quarter time, but the Phoenix blew it open, 36-18, in the second quarter to lead 59-41.

"We could have given better effort out there," Hawks head coach Justin Tatum said.

"They out-hustled us on a lot of plays. Once they got that momentum going, South East is pretty good.

"Some of the things happened on offensive rebounds that we gave up (in the second quarter), or off the free throw, or turnovers. We found ways to help them build that momentum.

"Like I said, once they get rolling, it's tough to beat them.

"We're going to challenge our guys to be more aggressive defensively.

"Our guys also have to be able to guard one-on-one, two dribbles, a little bit better, and stop letting the other guys get straight-line drives.

"Do that better and just give more effort on the back end, and we'll be fine."

Tatum was rightfully optimistic heading into Melbourne after handing the 36ers a 22-point whooping in Wollongong.

"I think that's something those guys have got to explain to me," Tatum said about the drop in intensity against Phoenix.

"Coming off a high, being at home for the first home win and playing a really good team in Adelaide, then coming out here without the same intensity or desire to reciprocate the same thing, that's something my players have got to answer.

"I had a great feeling coming into this game about competing and giving ourselves our best chance to win two games on one weekend. It just didn't work that way on the effort part."

It was pretty close to a must-win for the Phoenix after starting the season 1-3, they are now 2-3 in seventh while the Hawks slipped further to 1-4.

"It was huge for us to come home and take care of business," Sobey said.

"We've been close the last few times, and you can only keep saying that so many times. To be able to come home, execute and actually take care of business is another thing.

"I think it's great for our group. We'll continue to do what we've been doing, even during those losses: get back to the drawing board, keep working at what we're doing and continue to get better.

"Like I said, we've got a new group. Trying to get guys up to speed with how we play is going to take time. It always will.

"We'll continue to do that over this next little stretch and hopefully keep ticking wins along the way."

What you need to know

• South East Melbourne Phoenix beat Illawarra Hawks 113-96 at John Cain Arena in Round 3 of NBL27.
• Level 23-23 after the first quarter, Phoenix won the second 36-18 to lead 59-41 at half-time. Illawarra won the third 32-26 and got within 10, before Phoenix pulled away to lead by as many as 24.
• Nathan Sobey ($379,600) top-scored with 24 points on 8-from-16, including 4-from-9 from three, and Kelan Martin ($277,000) led Illawarra with 17 on 7-from-14.
• Phoenix made 16 of 41 three-pointers and Illawarra five of 24, a 48-15 split from beyond the arc.
• Phoenix went to the free-throw line 43 times and made 29. Illawarra went 16 times and made 13, despite making 34 twos to Phoenix's 18.

South East Melbourne Phoenix

• Nathan Sobey ($379,600) top-scored with 24 points and six assists on 8-from-16, including 4-from-9 from three and 4-from-4 at the line.
• Dash Daniels ($115,000) added 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists off the bench on 5-from-9, including 3-from-5 from three.
• D'Shawn Schwartz ($277,000) scored 15 on 4-from-10, with three threes and 4-from-4 at the line.
• Jordan Hunter ($224,800) had 12 points and six rebounds in 14 minutes before fouling out.
• Angus Glover ($191,700) scored 11 off the bench, with two threes and 5-from-7 at the line.
• Skylar Mays ($277,000) had nine points and four assists on 3-from-7.
• Yannis Morin ($277,000) blocked four shots off the bench and scored eight on 4-from-6.
• Phoenix shot 34-from-76 from the field, 16-from-41 from three and 29-from-43 at the line, with 49 rebounds (17 offensive), 23 assists and 10 turnovers.

Illawarra Hawks

• Kelan Martin ($277,000) top-scored with 17 points on 7-from-14 in 18 minutes.
• Makur Maker scored 14 off the bench on 7-from-11.
• Milton Doyle ($274,700) had 14 points, 11 assists and three steals on 5-from-12.
• Johny Narkle ($69,000) added 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench on 5-from-8, including 3-from-5 from three.
• Tyler Harvey ($271,700) scored 10 on 5-from-12 but missed all six of his three-point attempts.
• Sam Froling ($228,200) had nine points and four rebounds in 11 minutes, making all five of his free throws.
• William Hickey ($331,600) had seven points and seven rebounds off the bench on 3-from-12.
• Illawarra shot 39-from-84 from the field, 5-from-24 from three and 13-from-16 at the line, with 44 rebounds (15 offensive), 24 assists and 11 turnovers.