Catch up on all the latest headlines from around the basketball world in today’s edition of In the Post.

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Phoenix feeling the heat

South East Melbourne coach Simon Mitchell has admitted the high pressure games the Phoenix are playing in might have had an impact on the players, as they fight for their finals hopes.

“It’s the gravity of what you’re playing for, sometimes, that affects. With the gravity of our situation, the importance of needing a win, it looked like it affected some of our players,” Mitchell said via the Herald Sun.

Hawks turn it around

Illawarra Hawks captain AJ Ogilvy says the key to the club’s turnaround has been an uptick in effort on the defensive end.

“We’ve really found our style of basketball over the last eight weeks. There was a lot of criticism of our defence early on but I haven’t heard much of it lately. When we’re locked in defensively, teams struggle to score against us and we’re pretty hard to stop when we get downhill offensively. I think we’ve turned a corner,” Ogilvy wrote in the Illawarra Mercury.  

Kuol walking the walk

Cairns Taipans coach Adam Forde says rookie Bul Kuol has an unmatched work ethic as he builds a strong case to win Rookie of the Year.

“There’s guys who talk the talk in a sense of their work ethic and the way they carry themselves. Bul walks the walk – he’s a guy we have to taper back a bit because he does too much,” Forde said via the Cairns Post.