Figure 1
Every Dash Daniels game of the last two seasons: drag the line
points, regular season · 33 games for Melbourne United, then 9 for the Phoenix to 24 Oct · NBL27 marked under the columnsOver 9.5: 8/42 games · NBL27: 7/9 games
Melbourne United, 2025-26Phoenix, NBL27
9.5
Show the numbers
| Date | Club | Opponent | Points | Minutes | Threes tried | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Sep 2025 | MEL | at TAS | 2 | 9 | 1 | W 88–84 |
| 21 Sep 2025 | MEL | v NZL | 14 | 20 | 3 | W 114–82 |
| 25 Sep 2025 | MEL | v SEM | 9 | 18 | 1 | W 103–83 |
| 8 Oct 2025 | MEL | at SYD | 9 | 17 | 4 | W 107–93 |
| 12 Oct 2025 | MEL | v CNS | 7 | 15 | 2 | W 95–60 |
| 17 Oct 2025 | MEL | at BRI | 3 | 19 | 1 | W 95–86 |
| 19 Oct 2025 | MEL | v NZL | 0 | 17 | 2 | W 104–88 |
| 24 Oct 2025 | MEL | at CNS | 5 | 18 | 1 | W 94–67 |
| 26 Oct 2025 | MEL | v ADL | 2 | 17 | 1 | W 81–80 |
| 3 Nov 2025 | MEL | v SYD | 9 | 22 | 4 | L 92–95 |
| 5 Nov 2025 | MEL | at ILL | 9 | 14 | 2 | L 93–107 |
| 8 Nov 2025 | MEL | at SEM | 0 | 15 | 1 | W 92–81 |
| 15 Nov 2025 | MEL | v BRI | 6 | 12 | 2 | W 99–93 |
| 21 Nov 2025 | MEL | at ILL | 6 | 22 | 1 | W 105–102 |
| 23 Nov 2025 | MEL | v PER | 4 | 13 | 0 | W 98–87 |
| 4 Dec 2025 | MEL | at PER | 3 | 12 | 1 | L 84–96 |
| 7 Dec 2025 | MEL | at SEM | 0 | 5 | 0 | L 86–111 |
| 12 Dec 2025 | MEL | at ADL | 6 | 18 | 3 | L 105–114 |
| 14 Dec 2025 | MEL | v SYD | 2 | 7 | 0 | L 86–92 |
| 18 Dec 2025 | MEL | v ILL | 3 | 13 | 2 | W 97–75 |
| 23 Dec 2025 | MEL | v TAS | 8 | 15 | 3 | L 73–92 |
| 27 Dec 2025 | MEL | at BRI | 4 | 10 | 0 | W 92–87 |
| 3 Jan 2026 | MEL | at TAS | 5 | 11 | 1 | L 75–84 |
| 7 Jan 2026 | MEL | v CNS | 2 | 13 | 2 | L 92–93 |
| 11 Jan 2026 | MEL | at SYD | 1 | 7 | 0 | L 94–97 |
| 17 Jan 2026 | MEL | v TAS | 0 | 17 | 1 | W 79–77 |
| 21 Jan 2026 | MEL | v BRI | 9 | 18 | 2 | W 98–66 |
| 25 Jan 2026 | MEL | at PER | 1 | 24 | 2 | W 74–73 |
| 30 Jan 2026 | MEL | at NZL | 0 | 6 | 0 | L 95–97 |
| 7 Feb 2026 | MEL | v ADL | 3 | 13 | 0 | L 76–87 |
| 12 Feb 2026 | MEL | at CNS | 0 | 8 | 2 | W 89–85 |
| 15 Feb 2026 | MEL | v ILL | 5 | 11 | 3 | L 91–100 |
| 19 Feb 2026 | MEL | v SEM | 2 | 15 | 0 | W 95–91 |
| 19 Sep 2026 | SEM | at PER | 24 | 29 | 4 | W 100–79 |
| 21 Sep 2026 | SEM | at TAS | 11 | 24 | 2 | L 91–96 |
| 24 Sep 2026 | SEM | v MEL | 9 | 24 | 7 | L 61–86 |
| 2 Oct 2026 | SEM | at PER | 13 | 25 | 6 | L 88–92 |
| 4 Oct 2026 | SEM | v ILL | 16 | 23 | 5 | W 113–96 |
| 10 Oct 2026 | SEM | v MEL | 6 | 19 | 3 | L 99–104 |
| 15 Oct 2026 | SEM | at BRI | 12 | 20 | 6 | L 105–115 |
| 17 Oct 2026 | SEM | v CNS | 10 | 23 | 1 | W 115–83 |
| 24 Oct 2026 | SEM | v ADL | 18 | 31 | 7 | W 108–94 |
Why?
Dash Daniels scored 18 in the Phoenix's 108–94 win over Adelaide on 24 October. That made 7 games of 10 or more points in 9 for South East Melbourne this season. In 33 regular-season games for Melbourne United in 2025-26, Daniels got to 10 once: 14 against the NZ Breakers on 21 September 2025. So I counted every Daniels game of the two seasons.
The 2 NBL27 games under 10, a 9 and a 6, were both against Melbourne United, Daniels' old club.
More court time, and more in it
Daniels played 14.2 minutes a game for Melbourne last season and for the Phoenix. More court time explains part of the rise, but not all of it:
Figure 2
More minutes, more points in each one, and 3 times the threes
Dash Daniels, regular season · 33 games for Melbourne United in 2025-26, 9 for the Phoenix in NBL27 · the change betweenShow the numbers
| Games | Minutes a game | Points a game | Points per 36 | Threes tried a game | Field goals | Share of plays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26, Melbourne | 33 | 14.2 | 4.2 | 10.7 | 1.5 | 55 of 131 | 15.2% |
| NBL27, Phoenix | 9 | 24.1 | 13.2 | 19.8 | 4.6 | 45 of 87 | 20.0% |
Points per 36 minutes puts every season on the same court time: 36 × points ÷ minutes, derived. On that count Daniels went from 10.7 to 19.8. Per minute, Daniels nearly doubled too. The shots changed with the role: three-point attempts a game, up from 1.5. A bigger share of Daniels' shots went in, too:
| 2025-26 | NBL27 | |
|---|---|---|
| Field goals | 55 of 131 (42.0%) | 45 of 87 (51.7%) |
| Twos | 37 of 83 (44.6%) | 30 of 46 (65.2%) |
| Threes | 18 of 48 (37.5%) | 15 of 41 (36.6%) |
| Share of plays | 15.2% | 20.0% |
The threes went in at about the same rate. The twos, shots from inside the three-point line, are where the field-goal number rose. Share of plays is a usage rate: the share of the team's plays a player finishes while on court.
The league's biggest risers
Of the 63 NBL players with 10 or more games in 2025-26 and 4 or more in NBL27, 32 are scoring more a game, 29 fewer and 2 the same. Every one of them, sorted by the change:
Figure 3
63 players in both seasons, sorted by the change in points a game
NBL27 points a game minus 2025-26, regular season · 10+ games in 2025-26 and 4+ in NBL27 · to 24 OctShow the numbers
| Rank | Player | Clubs | Games | 2025-26 | NBL27 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Rakocevic | ADL | 30, 9 | 7.8 | 18.9 | +11.1 |
| 2 | Elijah Pepper | PER | 33, 7 | 10.7 | 20.1 | +9.4 |
| 3 | Dash Daniels | MEL to SEM | 33, 9 | 4.2 | 13.2 | +9.0 |
| 4 | Parker Jackson-Cartwright | NZL | 33, 5 | 17.7 | 26.6 | +8.9 |
| 5 | Makuach Maluach | SYD | 31, 7 | 8.2 | 15.4 | +7.2 |
| 6 | Sam Mennenga | NZL | 27, 8 | 17.7 | 23.3 | +5.6 |
| 7 | Will Magnay | TAS | 24, 8 | 10.4 | 15.8 | +5.4 |
| 8 | David Johnson | TAS | 22, 8 | 12.7 | 17.8 | +5.1 |
| 9 | Malith Machar | MEL | 22, 8 | 1.5 | 6.1 | +4.6 |
| 10 | Todd Blanchfield | ILL | 32, 4 | 5.1 | 9.5 | +4.4 |
| 11 | Lat Mayen | PER to BRI | 28, 8 | 2.4 | 6.8 | +4.4 |
| 12 | Keanu Rasmussen | ADL | 12, 9 | 0.6 | 4.8 | +4.2 |
| 13 | Dylan Windler | PER | 29, 7 | 12.9 | 17.0 | +4.1 |
| 14 | Kyle Adnam | CNS to ILL | 18, 7 | 2.5 | 6.4 | +3.9 |
| 15 | Angus Glover | SEM | 31, 9 | 10.6 | 14.4 | +3.8 |
| 16 | Carlin Davison | NZL | 33, 8 | 5.2 | 9.0 | +3.8 |
| 17 | Jesse Wagstaff | PER | 31, 7 | 3.3 | 7.0 | +3.7 |
| 18 | Malique Lewis | SEM to CNS | 25, 8 | 7.1 | 10.1 | +3.0 |
| 19 | Mojave King | CNS to NZL | 22, 8 | 11.3 | 14.1 | +2.8 |
| 20 | Johny Narkle | ILL | 18, 9 | 2.1 | 4.3 | +2.2 |
| 21 | Tyrell Harrison | BRI | 25, 7 | 15.0 | 17.1 | +2.1 |
| 22 | Shaun Bruce | SYD to CNS | 27, 7 | 2.4 | 4.4 | +2.0 |
| 23 | Matt Kenyon | ADL | 33, 8 | 2.1 | 4.0 | +1.9 |
| 24 | Akech Aliir | SEM | 25, 9 | 4.6 | 6.4 | +1.8 |
| 25 | Dejan Vasiljevic | ADL to NZL | 33, 8 | 10.3 | 12.1 | +1.8 |
| 26 | Bryce Cotton | ADL | 32, 9 | 25.7 | 27.4 | +1.7 |
| 27 | Zylan Cheatham | ADL | 33, 9 | 11.7 | 13.4 | +1.7 |
| 28 | Sam Froling | ILL | 15, 10 | 11.2 | 12.3 | +1.1 |
| 29 | Tanner Krebs | MEL to SEM | 33, 8 | 8.0 | 8.4 | +0.4 |
| 30 | Reyne Smith | CNS | 14, 8 | 9.9 | 10.3 | +0.4 |
| 31 | Tom Wilson | MEL | 25, 8 | 2.3 | 2.6 | +0.3 |
| 32 | Xavier Cooks | SYD | 29, 7 | 13.4 | 13.6 | +0.2 |
| 33 | Josh Bannan | TAS | 33, 6 | 15.5 | 15.5 | 0.0 |
| 34 | Lloyd McVeigh | CNS | 10, 4 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.0 |
| 35 | Kristian Doolittle | PER | 33, 6 | 16.6 | 16.5 | -0.1 |
| 36 | Patrick Ryan | SEM | 13, 5 | 1.7 | 1.4 | -0.3 |
| 37 | Jacob Holt | BRI | 22, 6 | 9.3 | 8.7 | -0.6 |
| 38 | Daniel Foster | SEM | 31, 6 | 2.8 | 1.8 | -1.0 |
| 39 | Isaac White | ADL | 33, 8 | 5.1 | 4.1 | -1.0 |
| 40 | Biwali Bayles | ILL to TAS | 27, 6 | 2.2 | 1.2 | -1.0 |
| 41 | Daniel Grida | ILL | 29, 8 | 6.3 | 5.1 | -1.2 |
| 42 | Kyle Bowen | MEL | 33, 8 | 3.7 | 2.5 | -1.2 |
| 43 | Sunday Dech | PER to CNS | 26, 5 | 3.5 | 2.0 | -1.5 |
| 44 | Kendric Davis | SYD | 33, 7 | 24.4 | 22.9 | -1.5 |
| 45 | Nick Marshall | TAS | 33, 8 | 10.1 | 8.5 | -1.6 |
| 46 | William Hickey | ILL | 27, 10 | 12.7 | 10.9 | -1.8 |
| 47 | Izayah Le'Afa | NZL | 15, 8 | 3.5 | 1.6 | -1.9 |
| 48 | Fabijan Krslovic | MEL | 33, 8 | 4.5 | 2.5 | -2.0 |
| 49 | Jordan Hunter | SEM | 33, 8 | 11.8 | 9.8 | -2.0 |
| 50 | Reuben Te Rangi | NZL | 33, 8 | 6.5 | 4.4 | -2.1 |
| 51 | Kyrin Galloway | CNS | 33, 8 | 7.6 | 5.1 | -2.5 |
| 52 | Matthew Dellavedova | SYD | 27, 4 | 8.7 | 6.0 | -2.7 |
| 53 | Wani Swaka Lo Buluk | ILL | 33, 10 | 8.0 | 5.3 | -2.7 |
| 54 | Tyler Robertson | SYD | 27, 6 | 6.0 | 3.3 | -2.7 |
| 55 | Jack McVeigh | CNS | 29, 8 | 21.2 | 17.0 | -4.2 |
| 56 | Nathan Sobey | SEM | 32, 7 | 22.0 | 17.6 | -4.4 |
| 57 | Mitch Norton | BRI | 23, 8 | 7.5 | 3.0 | -4.5 |
| 58 | Kody Stattmann | CNS to TAS | 23, 5 | 6.6 | 1.8 | -4.8 |
| 59 | Tyler Harvey | ILL | 31, 10 | 16.9 | 11.8 | -5.1 |
| 60 | Milton Doyle | MEL to ILL | 33, 10 | 16.2 | 11.0 | -5.2 |
| 61 | Shea Ili | MEL | 10, 5 | 8.3 | 3.0 | -5.3 |
| 62 | Jaron Rillie | PER | 14, 4 | 8.1 | 2.8 | -5.3 |
| 63 | Kouat Noi | SYD to NZL | 32, 8 | 11.5 | 4.4 | -7.1 |
Daniels' rise of points a game is the 3rd-biggest. Only Nick Rakocevic and Elijah Pepper have risen more: Rakocevic from 7.8 to 18.9 at Adelaide, and Pepper from 10.7 to 20.1 at Perth. Pepper's rise has its own article: Perth with and without Bryce Cotton. Daniels is the only one of the top 3 at a new club.
A new role, or a fast start?
Daniels has played all 9 of the Phoenix's games so far, out of 33 in the regular season:
Figure 4
9 of the Phoenix's 33 regular-season games played
Dash Daniels' points in each Phoenix game of NBL27, in fixture order, to 24 Oct24Phoenix games still to play, from Sunday 1 November
Show the numbers
| Round | Date | Opponent | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 Sep 2026 | at PER | 24 |
| 1 | 21 Sep 2026 | at TAS | 11 |
| 2 | 24 Sep 2026 | v MEL | 9 |
| 3 | 2 Oct 2026 | at PER | 13 |
| 3 | 4 Oct 2026 | v ILL | 16 |
| 4 | 10 Oct 2026 | v MEL | 6 |
| 5 | 15 Oct 2026 | at BRI | 12 |
| 5 | 17 Oct 2026 | v CNS | 10 |
| 6 | 24 Oct 2026 | v ADL | 18 |
| 7 | 1 Nov 2026 | v TAS | Not played yet |
| 8 | 8 Nov 2026 | at SYD | Not played yet |
| 9 | 11 Nov 2026 | v ILL | Not played yet |
| 9 | 14 Nov 2026 | at MEL | Not played yet |
| 10 | 18 Nov 2026 | at NZL | Not played yet |
| 10 | 22 Nov 2026 | v CNS | Not played yet |
| 11 | 2 Dec 2026 | at ADL | Not played yet |
| 11 | 5 Dec 2026 | at CNS | Not played yet |
| 12 | 13 Dec 2026 | v PER | Not played yet |
| 13 | 19 Dec 2026 | v SYD | Not played yet |
| 14 | 26 Dec 2026 | at TAS | Not played yet |
| 15 | 31 Dec 2026 | at ILL | Not played yet |
| 15 | 2 Jan 2027 | at ADL | Not played yet |
| 16 | 6 Jan 2027 | v TAS | Not played yet |
| 16 | 10 Jan 2027 | v NZL | Not played yet |
| 17 | 14 Jan 2027 | at SYD | Not played yet |
| 18 | 21 Jan 2027 | v ADL | Not played yet |
| 18 | 24 Jan 2027 | v PER | Not played yet |
| 19 | 28 Jan 2027 | at BRI | Not played yet |
| 19 | 31 Jan 2027 | at CNS | Not played yet |
| 20 | 4 Feb 2027 | at NZL | Not played yet |
| 20 | 6 Feb 2027 | v SYD | Not played yet |
| 21 | 11 Feb 2027 | at MEL | Not played yet |
| 21 | 14 Feb 2027 | v BRI | Not played yet |
Nine games is a small sample, with 24 of the 33 still to play. It can't yet say how much of the rise is the new club, the extra minutes or a fast start. The 24 points at Perth came in round 1; without it, Daniels' NBL27 average is 11.9. The Phoenix play Tasmania at John Cain Arena on Sunday 1 November, 3 pm, a game not played when these numbers were read on 26 October 2026. I'll count Daniels' games again at the halfway mark of NBL27.
Summary
- Points a game
- 4.22025-26, Melbourne13.2NBL27, Phoenix
- Games of 10 or more
- 1/332025-267/9NBL27
- The rise
- +9.0points a game, 3rd of 63
The working
Definitions, sources and when the numbers were read
- Games
- Every regular-season game Dash Daniels played: 33 of Melbourne United's 33 in 2025-26, and 9 of the Phoenix's 9 in NBL27 to 24 October 2026. A game played means minutes above zero. Melbourne's 2 finals games in March 2026 (0 and 4 points) are left out, so both seasons count the same kind of game. The Phoenix won 4 of Daniels' 9 NBL27 games; Melbourne won 20 of 33 in 2025-26.
- The line
- Figure 1's line starts at 9.5: a column above it is a game of 10 or more points. Points a game is the average over the games; minutes a game and three-point attempts a game likewise.
- Per 36 minutes
- 36 × the season's points ÷ the season's minutes. Derived: it puts a bench season and a starting one on the same court time, and assumes the scoring rate would hold over more minutes.
- Share of plays
- The usage rate the feed stores for each game, averaged over the games: 100 × (FGA + 0.44 × FTA + turnovers) × (team minutes ÷ 5) ÷ (minutes × (team FGA + 0.44 × team FTA + team turnovers)). Derived.
- The risers
- Every NBL player with 10 or more regular-season games in 2025-26 and 4 or more in NBL27 to 24 October, a player's games joined across clubs: 63. The change is NBL27 points a game minus 2025-26, each rounded to one place first; ties are ordered by the unrounded change. Daniels is 3rd at every floor tried: 3rd of 87 with 1+ and 1+ games, 3rd of 75 with 10+ and 1+ games, 3rd of 59 with 10+ and 5+ games.
- Pepper's article
- Perth with and without Bryce Cotton counts finals too, and was read on 16 October 2026, 5 NBL27 games in. So its averages for Pepper differ from the regular-season ones here.
- NBL27 so far
- 41 of the season's 165 regular-season games to 24 October: rounds 1 to 5, and 5 of round 6's 7. Games after 24 October are not counted. The Phoenix have 24 of their 33 regular-season games still to play.
- Read
- 26 October 2026, from Punt's database, in a read-only transaction. The Phoenix's next game, v Tasmania JackJumpers at John Cain Arena on 1 November, 3 pm local time, had not been played.
- Sources
- The competition's own record is at nbl.com.au.
- Not in this article
- Why the minutes changed, starts and bench, defence, the games before 2025-26, and prices.
- Sources and terms
- Every source Punt uses, with its licence, is on Credits. The terms are defined in the Glossary, and the methodology page sets out where every number comes from and the rules it follows.