"They are contenders"

Any side that can take down the hottest team in the league, not once, but twice in the space of a month deserves huge respect. 

South East Melbourne did just that. 

After a 0-5 start to the season, the Phoenix have been playing catch-up ever since. 

It’s been a toil and it’s been far from perfect, but Josh King’s team is now 10-9 on the season, they’ve beaten Melbourne and Illawarra in the space of a fortnight, and their stars, well they’re finally playing starring roles. 

According to former Sydney King, Brad Rosen, the Phoenix are now legitimate contenders for the ultimate prize, the NBL25 championship.

“They just came out, bang and they were unbelievable,” he said of their performance in a five-point win over Illawarra in enemy territory. 

“That was one of the most exciting games that I’ve seen this year. 

“I cannot believe this team were zero and five. They’re now eight and three just under Josh King. They were amazing last night.

“That was on the road against the best team in the league. They were up and in, they were diving on balls ... they wanted it more than the opposition last night. It’s as simple as that.”

Rosen praised King, who joined the Phoenix when they had just let go of coach Mike Kelly and had a 2-6 record. They’d just about been written off by that point of the season, just eight games in. 

What a transformation it’s been. 

“He is like a crazed lunatic out there. I love him. His passion is just brilliant,” Rosen said. 

King has overseen a rapid rise in the form of some of the team’s proven stars, with the likes of Nathan Sobey and Angus Glover looking like completely different players since his arrival, and Derrick Walton Jr. now getting back to his very best form. 

“They were amazing last night,” Rosen said. 

“Derrick Walton Jr ... that was the MVP we saw in that Grand Final series a few years ago, and Joe Wieskamp, I love that guy ... there is just something about him that I loved, and we saw that last night.

“Shoutout to Nathan Sobey, he was brilliant. 

“Dare I say it ... they are the contenders. Watching that last night, there is absolutely no reason that they can’t say to themselves now, ‘that’s where we draw a line in the sand and we’re not going below that’.”

The Phoenix face another huge challenge on Thursday night, travelling to Sydney to take on the Kings.

After one of its most disappointing games of the season, Sydney is feeling the heat, while a Phoenix win would take them up to fourth on the standings. 

“They’ve got four ex Sydney Kings wanting this win, they’ll want nothing better than to defeat the Sydney Kings,” Rosen added. 

“Cannot wait for this. Tip it off now!” 

Watch the Kings and Phoenix do battle, live on ESPN this Thursday from 7.30pm AEDT.