Cotton’s fast lane learnings from Penrite Supercars drivers

You would think that when you’ve won three NBL championships and five MVP awards, there would not be much more you could learn about preparation.

But Bryce Cotton used a visit to club partner Apex Steel’s Direk headquarters on Monday to quiz some of the nation’s best V8 Supercars drivers about high performance under high pressure.

Cotton and fellow Adelaide 36ers co-captain DJ Vasiljevic were guests of Apex Steel as drivers Kai Allen and Matt Payne from Penrite Racing showed off their cars and spoke to staff and the organisation’s partners about this week’s BP Adelaide Grand Final deciding Supercars event.

Apex is a proud Premier Partner of Penrite Racing as well as being a long-time major supporter of the Adelaide 36ers.

Cotton found himself asking Allen and Payne about their preparation for key races and said he had learnt a lot.

“I've never been to a race before or anything like that, but I had a chance to talk to a couple of the drivers, so I was picking their brain on how they prepare and how fast they're going,” Cotton said.

“They actually told me even if it's raining, like, they still actually race, so that blew my mind.

“I'm excited to see the race. I'll be there this weekend. I hope it doesn't rain, though, because it’ll make me nervous just watching for them.”

The timing of the conversation, during the FIBA break when the 36ers get a chance to catch their breath after seven games in 20 days, could not have been better.

Cotton said the group would have two days off before returning for training with a view to building on the club’s 11-3 start to the season.

“We have had a nice little stretch of games, even though it can be tiring at times,” Cotton said.

“At the same token, you’ve got to stay ready, so I think we did a good job finishing strong.

“It won't hurt to have a couple days off, but not too much because that's where the rust starts to pick up. I'll probably take the day off, and then we'll be back to it after that.

“You want to make sure you pick up where you left off.”

Vasiljevic said the FIBA break would give the group time to practice together for a good spell, including helping recent import arrival Troy Brown Jnr settle into team structures.

And he said while it had been a strong opening 14 games, there was plenty of room for improvement.

“It was pretty full on so (we) sort of deserve a little bit of a break, but a break also allows us to kind of refine a bit of stuff, offensively and defensively, work on more rotation-wise,” Vasiljevic said.

“When you’ve got so many games, you don't really practice as much.

“There are always ways of getting better defensively by that one little per-cent or offensively refining a bit of spacing and whatnot to allow Bryce and others to operate in.

“There's always room for improvement, and that's why this is a good time for people to break to allow us to practice more, just to refine things individually, people to work on their craft, but also prepare us for the team as well.”

Vasiljevic admitted he was not much of a rev-head but said his partner Paigan loved the Supercars and was excited to head along to support the Penrite drivers Allen and Payne.

“It was good to have Apex invite us down to support the boys,” Vasiljevic said of Monday’s visit.

“My partner loves the V8s, so we'll be going on Saturday supporting the lads and hopefully they can get the win.

“It's a good little thing to watch. You get away from basketball, kind of explore what they get to do and you know what their life is like on the track so, yeah, I'm looking forward to it.

“It’ll be nice to get some brownie points with the misses, take her to the races. I mean, I think she would kill me if I didn't take her.”

The Sixers next play against Brisbane on Friday 5 December with limited tickets remaining.