Crocker promises Sixers scoring, defence and excitement

Tony Crocker is now on the verge of reaching the shores of Australia and the new Adelaide 36ers swingman is looking forward to bringing scoring, defensive prowess and excitement the Sixers fans in his first taste of the NBL. 

Since the COVID-19 global pandemic cut short a season in Europe that was looking so encouraging at his Turkish club Pinar Karsiyaka, Crocker has been back home in San Antonio with his young family, working out hard and waiting for his next best opportunity to present.

He immediately realised that would be to come and play in the NBL at the 36ers, and when that became an option he jumped at the opportunity.

The 33-year-old has been quite the professional journeyman since leaving the University of Oklahoma where he played with Blake Griffin, and over the last decade has taken his talents throughout Europe in Hungary, Finland, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Turkey and Russia, but Australia has been on is radar.

Even as a holiday destination, he wanted to come down under at some point but with everything he's been hearing about the strength of the NBL combined with the favourable summer weather over a European winter and it was no-brainer for him to sign with the 36ers.

"I've never been to Australia but I've always wanted to visit because it's a beautiful place. I thought I might be able to vacation there one day when I stopped playing but now to get to come there as a player is even better," Crocker said.

"My agent really took care of all of that. Usually with the deals he'll negotiate with the teams after they reach out to him, or he reaches out to him. Then once the offers were on the table he'd let me know. When I knew there was interest from Adelaide it was something I was definitely interested in.

"I just thought it was the best fit for me because at this point I like the opposite seasons so I will get to come back home in the summer. I have been used to playing over in Europe where it's really cold at this time of the year so having better weather sounded good to me and also just the country is beautiful.

"I had a chance on YouTube to look at the league and teams a little bit, and saw how great the fans were so that was another main thing. The league always has great players and is very competitive. 

"There weren’t too many things to stop me from coming out there. I know it's a very competitive league and I've seen some of the players over there are very good as well. There are always good Australian players as well so I'm excited about being part of the league."

Crocker's preparation for his first NBL season with the 36ers that gets underway at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre against the Sydney Kings on Sunday, 17 January is hardly idea, but thanks to COVID-19 most imports in the league are facing similar situations.

Crocker is now set to arrive in Sydney where he'll quarantine for two weeks and then come to Adelaide to begin his training with the team ahead of the last two pre-season matches against the Taipans in Cairns on January 7 and 9.

There's plenty for the 36ers fans to like about what Crocker is looking to bring too. He is an experienced and strong all-round player but he's also ensured he is in impressive shape and condition even if he has been back home in San Antonio since coming back from Turkey.

"I'm going to bring a lot of heart and energy, I'm going to bring scoring for the team as well as good defence, and I'll be someone who the fans can cheer for," Crocker said.

"I've been running on the treadmill a lot and I have a lot of stuff at my house to help me stay fit and in shape, and sharp on the basketball court.

"I have a basketball court in my backyard so I spent time out there with my son and we will work out, my wife will help rebound and stuff. I also have a skills trainer who I work out with a couple of times inside a gym so I've been doing a lot of stuff preparing to have a great season there in Adelaide."

While Crocker has played right throughout Europe over the past decade, it's in Turkey where he has felt most at home and that was again the case earlier in 2020 when he was playing impressive and part of a team contending for the championship with Pinar Karsiyaka.

He's also a previous Turkish Basketball League All-Star from 2016 on top of starting out professionally in Hungary where was the All-Star Game MVP and slam dunk champion.

A decade on and time will tell if he is still that same spring-heeled athlete, but that is an impressive club at Pinar Karsiyaka he most recently played at where he was teammates with former Melbourne United forward DJ Kennedy.

The KSK team now of his 2020/21 season still features Kennedy and former New Zealand Breaker Sek Henry while their former alum includes Tom Abercrombie and another new NBL arrival, Colton Iverson.

So the credentials of Crocker back up impressively, he has put the work in to hit the ground running when he arrives in Adelaide and he's got all the tools to bring plenty of production and leadership to a largely youthful group outside of Daniel Johnson, Brendan Teys and Daniel Dillon.

Crocker is thankful for the opportunities he's had throughout his careers and the situations he has found himself in, including the last season in Turkey, but now he can't wait for a new experience in Adelaide.

"For the majority of my overseas career I've spent in Turkey. I played four years there and I've been in Greece, Cyprus, Moscow and I've been in a lot of places," Crocker said.

"But recently I've been in good situations so I'm thankful for my agents for finding good teams for me, and I've been able to play well, meet new people and just have fun playing.

"This past season was really good for me, we were No. 1 in the league and in EuroCup and it was looking like a positive situation for us to win the championship. 

"But unfortunately COVID came in and stopped everything. Since then I've just been home training and working out, and being prepared to go wherever to play again."