Dech says ‘full team’ is building

Adelaide 36ers swingman Sunday Dech said his side, now at full strength, can compete with anyone in the league after Friday night’s 110-103 loss to Perth Wildcats at RAC Arena.

The 36ers came roaring back into the contest in the second half, fighting back from a double-digit deficit to cut the margin to just one point in the final quarter.

Dech, who scored nine points on 100 per cent shooting including a three-pointer to cut the margin to 97-96 late in the game, spent most of his night defending Perth superstar Bryce Cotton.

“We have a full team now and the goal is to win these next few games, it’s important,” Dech said.

“We compete and we stick together, because our best is the best in the league.”

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Dech missed seven games due to a hamstring injury on December 8 and said it was great to be finally back out on the court.

“It was tough sitting and watching, and you just want to play basketball,” Dech said.

“You got to respect the healing process and I thank the medical team and I came back ahead of schedule which was perfect.”

Head coach Mike Wells had nothing but praise for Dech, who limited Cotton to 22 points while being a +8 during his almost 20 minutes on court.

“He’s the best. He is a true professional, he takes care of his body, he’s been a leader since the day I got here,

“He takes the opposition’s best offensive player every night, unwavering,

“I have to give Lat (Mayen) a ton of credit for stepping up into that role,

“Now we have two guys who can do that, and they are different,

“What he (Dech) does for this team is something you don’t see every day.”

Dech said import point guard Kendric Davis, who scored a game-high 31 points and had a game-high 10 assists, led the side all night.

“KD has been fantastic all year, there is no doubt he is one of the elite guards in the league,” Dech said.

“He is the head of our snake, he gets our offense going,

“He got going early, but then he found guys, Montrezl (Harrell) got going, Jarell did as well, so did DJ, it’s a whole team effort, but it all starts with KD.”

Adelaide will be back in action on Sunday when the 36ers travel to Cairns to battle the Taipans from 4pm ACDT.