NBL26 Report Card: Phoenix's record season falls short

As the Free Agency period tips off, NBL Media is putting the microscope on every club's NBL26 campaign.

Pete Hooley analyses every team, starting with the tenth-placed Bullets, all the way through to the Championship-winning Kings.

What the ladder says

3rd place - 22 wins, 11 losses

Four word summary

Over before it began

Report Card

Grade: B++

If you judged the Phoenix’s whole season on their post-season, you’d probably say it was a failure, but that’s simply not the case and would be recency bias. The regular season from Josh King and his team was very impressive, especially when you consider many people had low expectations from their roster build.

However, in typical King fashion, he managed to put a team together that complemented each roster piece and bought into the style he wanted.

The Phoenix get the extra + here on their report card because up until their Playoff Series against Adelaide, there was a strong case they’d be able to go and win it all.

Unfortunately, for their three most important games of the year, they didn’t look anything like the team that had been so hard to beat all season long.

Their offence struggled to fire and defensively they had lost their way and eventually succumbed to the greatness of Bryce Cotton and their season was finished.

Season highlight

There are two key moments that won’t be easy to forget when you look back on the season that was for this Phoenix team.

The first was early in January, when the competition's best offence team began to fire on all cylinders. In back-to-back games, beginning against the Sydney Kings, the Phoenix scored 124 points, averaging over 15 made threes across the two games.

If there was any question as to who had the most potent offensive team when everything was clicking, this was quickly answered across these two outings.

The other highlight would have to be Nathan Sobey’s career night in Game 2 against Adelaide, as he put the team on his back in the third quarter and led them to an inspiring win to force a Game 3.

The 39-point effort in that period was one of the best quarters of basketball from any team all season long, and it ignited their crowd.

Season lowlight

After they convincingly put away Perth in the first Play-In Game, many were expecting this Phoenix team to do the same to Adelaide in their playoff series and get one step closer to competing for a title.

The result was anything but that, as the Phoenix lost in three games to Adelaide, in performances that looked nothing like the team that had played so well prior.

In each of the three games, the Phoenix found themselves trailing by double digits, including a 21-point deficit in Game 3.

For a team that had shot the ball better than most all year and had led the league in scoring, it all came undone within a week, and their season was over before it ever really reached its peak.

Stats don’t lie

As mentioned previously, the Phoenix surprised many with how effective they were on the offensive end, leading the league at 100.8 points per game.

Josh King had found a method of getting the most out of his team, part of that by allowing them to play at a ridiculous pace and get as many threes up as they could.

The Phoenix shot over 36 threes per game, which was six more than any other team, while also leading the league in assists (22 per game).

MVP

It’s honestly hard to narrow their team MVP down to one, because both Nathan Sobey and John Brown III deserve recognition for their outstanding seasons.

When King took over as head coach, it looked to be a match made in heaven for 35-year-old Sobey, who had a career year for the Phoenix and finished third in league MVP voting.

The veteran guard averaged 22.5 points, four rebounds and five assists per game, including his historic Game 2 performance that will forever be remembered.

On the other end of the court was Brown III, who was simply dominant defensively all season long.

His international resume and reputation lived up to the hype as he claimed yet another defensive player of the year accolade and did so in style.

As good as he was on that end, it was his aggression on the offensive glass that made him so pivotal to his team’s success.

Surprise packet

It’s not a surprise anymore, but Jordan Hunter is one of the best shooters in the NBL and the numbers will back that up.

The Phoenix big man shot over 40 per cent from deep, and while he is selective with his attempts, his ability to stretch the floor plays a big part in opening space for the team’s guards.

When you consider Hunter attempted just one three-pointer in his first 63 career games, it’s a credit to his efforts in practice to add this to his game.

What's next?

Heading into NBL27, Josh King’s side has Nathan Sobey, Jordi Hunter, Owen Foxwell, Angus Glover, Daniel Foster and Ellis Biggar (development player) under contract.

Reports suggest the Phoenix are also in negoiations to bring back NBL26 Defensive Player of the Year, John Brown III, for next year.