Davis says half-time chat sparked turnaround

Point guard Kendric Davis said a half-time discussion with head coach Mike Wells was the trigger for his second half performance in last Friday night’s win against Cairns Taipans.

Davis went into the locker room with eight points and four assists, but his side was trailing 59-43 and Wells had some constructive criticism for the point guard.

"He touched me for sure and he knows how to light a fire under me," Davis said.

"I was p---ed as hell coming out of half-time and he did the same thing in the Tasmania game at the half. He snapped and he knows how to piss me off and get me going.”

READ MORE

• PRESS CALL: 'I couldn't be prouder of the group'
• MATCH WRAP: Harrell heroics in overtime thriller
• Honour, pride in 36ers Indigenous Round spectacular
• 36ers release NBL25 Indigenous Jersey

Playing in front of another sold-out home crowd at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, the fourth straight so far in NBL25, the 36ers gave up 11 three-pointers and 20 second chance points in the first half, to be trailing by as many as 19 points.

"It's probably the only thing that gets me going. At half-time I was mad, but I knew what it was going to do, and all coaches can't get that out of me though,” Davis said.

"Very few can get that out of me, but he (Wells) challenges me and I'm a competitor. I never want to let him, but I don’t want to let my team down.

“So when he challenged me, I wanted to step up to the occasion. But I grew up hard too so that's easy for me."

Davis starred alongside Montrezl Harrell in the second half and overtime period, as the 36ers outscored the Taipans 56-34 to secure the 99-93 win in overtime.

Wells said his connection with Davis, which has built over the first few months of the season, goes a long way to getting the best results for the team.

"The way you can coach a player harder is because of your personal relationship with them. That's how it works," Wells said.

"This guy right here (Davis) probably got most of my half-time speech and I love him to death, and I'm glad that he understood me going at him and him going back at me.

“It was all in a way of love, because I just think we can push the envelope for this group.

“We're trying to form an identity and take this group somewhere that the 36ers haven’t been in a while, and we're trying to break some habits.”

Adelaide will be back in action this Saturday when the 36ers travel to New Zealand to battle the Breakers at Spark Arena at 5pm ACST, catch all the action live and exclusive on ESPN via Kayo Sports.