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 score the 21-point victory at RAC Arena with Daniels' defence key to that as was his pulling down of 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 coach Josh King exactly why he 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."

The full-court defensive pressure that Daniels was able to apply directly led to a lot of his 24 points where he was able to get to the rack and make good use of his explosiveness and athleticism.

That included a patch of eight points in less than two minutes of the fourth quarter that turned a tight game into a comfortable win for the Phoenix.

King might not be expecting 24 points from Daniels every night and nor does he expect his team to need that with the offensive weapons they have, but he can't see why he can't continue having that sort of impact on the boards and defensively.

"It was fun to see and it was good obviously," King said.

"Everyone will talk about the 24 points that Dash had tonight and I'm happy that he got the points because that's something he's really worked on, but as a coach I'm more happy with the 12 rebounds and the defence he played.

"Those are winning plays that is impacting winning because he's not always going to get 24 points, but he can probably grab 12 rebounds a game and play defence like he did.

"Now he's shown me what he is able to do so his handicap is 12 rebounds and 24 points a game, and playing really good defence. I'm really excited for Dash and the whole team."

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 fully utilise his assets as an elite on-ball defender.

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."

With the Phoenix missing Sobey for the trip to Perth to open the new season and with imports Skylar Mays and D'Shawn Schwartz on debut in the NBL, there was a lot riding on the shoulders of Daniels.

Clearly he enjoys that responsibility and while his defensive prowess is a given at this point already, he did make it a focus to be more aggressive offensively and got the rewards.

He scored his 24 points on 9/13 shooting from the field with 2/4 from the outside.

"I mean, I just tried to start the game off being aggressive and rebounding, and the whole off-season I've been trying to work on my offensive game and being aggressive," he said.

"For me it's just about staying confident in being able to get downhill and make plays. Being aggressive has been the biggest thing."

Going back to last season and Daniels had already shown what he could do defensively in the NBL with Melbourne under coach Dean Vickerman, but everything about the Phoenix seemed to suit his game better.

Coach King wants South East Melbourne to apply full-court pressure defence and for his guards to be up and in on the opposition back court, which is where Daniels thrives.

He also knew he would be given more offensive freedom playing under King and one game in, and it already couldn’t be panning out better than he hoped.

"Even playing with United last year against South East you'd really feel that pressure so I was trying to be a part of that roster with the way they like to play defence," Daniels said.

"That's picking up 94-feet and pressuring the ball so for sure that's definitely a key factor in coming to this team.

"If we're getting stops and scoring then it's always a good feeling, but that's the way we like to play and picking up and forcing turnovers. The other key is keeping hands out and not fouling, and I think we did a pretty good job with that tonight."

Chris Pike

Dash shows his growth to open NBL27