Cotton happy with debut 36ers outing

A lot of discussion leading into Sunday night’s showdown between the Adelaide 36ers and European giants Panathinaikos centred on the EuroLeague MVP Kendrick Nunn coming up against the NBL MVP Bryce Cotton, and it’s fair to say it lived up to the hype.

Nunn (26 points) and Cotton (24) were the top scorers on the court, exciting and thrilling the Qudos Bank Arena crowd with a combination of shooting from range and from within the paint.

In a touching moment, the duo embraced after the match and switched jerseys in a clear representation of game respecting game.

Afterwards, Cotton explained how much he enjoyed the experience of his battle with Nunn.

“It's always fun to compete against great players, especially, having a chance to play against another great player that's in a different league,” Cotton said.

“I mean NBL (teams) have played against NBA teams before we've never had a chance to play against Euro League teams and to have a free hit, I guess, with a team like that before we have the real deal next week, we couldn't have asked for anything better.”

It was the first time the prestigious Pavlos Giannakopoulos Tournament was held outside Greece.

The event honours the late former Panathinaikos president Pavlos Giannakopoulos, who is a legendary figure in European basketball, and Cotton said it was a thrill to be involved.

“It's new for us, but you know as a player, it's a challenge to measure your talent against and you know when you play professional basketball, you've been in the mindset of measuring yourself against talent your entire life, so this was a great opportunity,” he explained.

“I wasn't aware that, you know, it's the first time the tournament was held elsewhere, but from a pure athlete’s standpoint it was a great measuring tool for us as a team.”

After a slow start by his own lofty standards, Cotton burst into action in the second term with 15 points as the Sixers’ high-pace transition caught the Greek side off guard.

He finished with a team-high 24 points and probably left a few out there, going three from 10 from three-point range.

He also had nine assists and four rebounds, giving 36ers fans plenty to be excited about.

Most importantly, in his first game in 36ers colours, Cotton played 37 minutes of game-time as he sought to ensure he was ready for the season opener.

“I kept telling coach, you know, leave me out there every time he asked if I wanted to sub,” he said.

“I wanted to see how my body was going to respond, because obviously the real thing is next week.

“But, aside from a little bit of, you know, dusting off the cobwebs, I think, my conditioning was really good, so I'm happy with that.”

Cotton and the 36ers will tip off their Hungry Jack’s NBL campaign against Brisbane at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre from 4:00pm ACST on Sunday.