Daniels the "menace" lives up to the hype

The stage was set for Dash Daniels to set the tone in the South East Melbourne Phoenix back court on debut at his new NBL club and he delivered a match winning performance in Perth on Saturday night.

Even having just turned 18, Daniels still played key minutes last season with Melbourne United and proved himself an elite defender in the league, so it was no surprise seeing him terrorise a Perth Wildcats back court missing a recognised point guard in the NBL27 opener.

The Phoenix went on to win by 21 points at RAC Arena, with Daniels' defence key to it, as were his 12 rebounds, but he also scored a career-best 24 points to help make up for the absence of superstar co-captain Nathan Sobey.

It was a spectacular South East Melbourne debut showing and highlighted just why coach Josh King thought he would be an ideal fit at the Phoenix.

"I obviously got a really good opportunity to watch him play a lot last year and he's the type of player that can do really good in our system by getting up the floor," King said.

"It's not always going to be 24 and 12, but this is something that we expect from Dash night in and night by being just a menace on defence and hitting open shots, and having fun out there. It was really good to watch."

Daniels couldn’t have asked for a better way to start his life with the Phoenix, with the way King wants him to play, allowing him to utilise his assets as an elite on-ball defender fully.

He was glad to then see his defence lead to the best offensive night of his NBL career so far too.

"It was a good night and even better that we got the win so hopefully we can keep it rolling because it was a lot of fun out there," Daniels said.

"It all starts on the defensive end for me and being able to get those rebounds and pushing the pace so as long as I'm doing that, the points will come."

The Phoenix travel to Tasmania to take on the JackJumpers on Monday night, live on ESPN from 7:30pm AEST.