1986: How 85 Devastation Drove 86 Domination

As the Adelaide 36ers prepare to celebrate the 40-year anniversary of the club’s inaugural championship in 1986, we’ve created a series of articles that tell the story of one of the most remarkable seasons in NBL history.

‍

Al Green hates losing. Hates it with a passion.

But 40 years on from his greatest triumph and one of the winningest NBL seasons on record, the Adelaide 36ers Hall of Famer admits losing was the basis for the ultimate success.

In 1986 the Adelaide 36ers swept all before them, winning all 13 of their home games at the Apollo Stadium and finishing the season with a still unmatched 24-2 record – only dropping those two games to last second buzzer beaters.

They would then win the club’s first NBL championship, beating the Brisbane Bullets 2-1 in a best-of-three Grand Final series, in an achievement that will be celebrated at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on November 1 when the current Sixers host the Bullets from 4:30pm ACDT.

But the celebration can be traced back a year before the Championship success, when the sides faced off in a one-game Grand Final in Brisbane, and the Bullets claimed their first title.

That the Bullets hosted the one-off decider was one thing; Both sides had finished with the same 20-6 record but while Adelaide had outscored Brisbane across the season by more than 300 points, the Brisbane outfit had the competition’s best defence and so its points percentage was superior.

And despite thumping Newcastle by 48 points in the Semi Final, Adelaide failed miserably on the grandest stage – something that sticks in Green’s memory to this day.

“It's almost a situation where you go ‘should have, could have, or would have, but we didn't’,” he recalls.

“Honestly, you know, I've been in situations before, you know, in college, high school, and everything else. It hurts, you know? It hurts, and it was a long drive back to the hotel, and we cried.

“You know, some of us cried. I was one of them, because I just hate losing. I hate losing. Especially that big one.”

In the moment, with raw nerves and emotions running high, the players and coach Ken Cole paused on the team bus to make a pact.

Never again did they want to experience feeling like the better team but losing in such a big game.

The man named the 1985 NBL Rookie of the Year Mike McKay was on the bus that day and played a big part in 1986.

“Everyone was just shattered and devastated, and it's a story that we all talk about now today,” he explained to Adelaide 36ers Media.

“After the game we all just got on the bus and all the players were at the back and wives and that were at the front and some of them walked back to the hotel.

“We sat there and we all looked at each other, and we all made a promise that we didn't want to go through that feeling again - that hurt, the disappointment.

“And that promise that we made to each other was our drive for 86.”

Devastated at the time but with the clarity of four decades of wisdom, Green knows it was a turning point for the group.

“I thought we were the better team in 85,” he says.

“But it brought unity to each other. It brought us together even closer. It was like a stronger glue that we put together.

“And we all had a mission. And that was to kick whoever's (butt that was) coming on the court with us the next year.

“You're in trouble, because it's our championship.”

36ers Hall of Famer Mark Davis only joined the club in the 1985 season and was still learning about the passion in the supporter base.

He remembers that losing Grand Final as the “fish that got away”, saying it created a burn that fuelled the group to the ultimate success.

“Anybody in professional sports, anybody can beat anybody on a day,” he says.

“If you're playing at the highest level, if you don't come with your A game on a day, you can get beat. I believe in 85, that's what happened to us, right?

“We came to play, but they had one of their best games against us, and they won. And it was only a one game series.

“When you stop playing sports those are games that you remember a lot because that's the fish that got away.

“And when you're playing top level sports, when you get that opportunity to bring home the bacon, you want to bring it home because there's no guarantees you're going to ever get there again.”

Fortunately, the side did and made the most of it, and Davis says the pact on the bus and the quality of the personalities on and around the team played a huge part.

“I truly believe the reason why we won it in 86 was because the burn hurt so bad (from 85),” he smiles.

“It wasn't just me feeling like this. I think collectively as a group, coaching staff and everything, the burn hurt so bad, us losing in 85.

“We carried that whole burn into '86. Right? And that was our motivation. I think that was our edge, and we had a chip on our shoulder.”

They soon had a ‘chip to their name, the club’s inaugural NBL Championship – something never to be forgotten.

‍

In the second part of our 1986 Championship series recount, we’ll remember the iconic Apollo Stadium.