DJ says victory means more than record

Adelaide 36ers captain DJ Vasiljevic said his first quarter hot shooting performance would have meant nothing without the victory in Cairns on Sunday afternoon.

Vasiljevic swished seven of his equal NBL record 10 three-pointers in the first 10 minutes to lead his side to a much-needed 99-75 win at Cairns Convention Centre.

The captain said he was thrilled with how his side rebounded from Friday night’s loss against the Wildcats in Perth.

READ MORE

• MATCH PREVIEW: 36ers keen to rebound in Cairns
• TEAM SCOUT: Score to settle in Taipans battle
• PRESS CALL: Dech says 'full team' is building
• MATCH WRAP: 36ers fall to Wildcats on the road

“We could have dropped our heads (after the Perth loss), but we bounced back,” Vasiljevic said post-game.

“We drop a game in Tassie where we shouldn’t have lost, and we bounced back against Illawarra at home.

“There were some mistakes we made in Perth, but we competed really well for about 35 minutes.

“But to bounce back and play like we did was really impressive from the group.”

Head coach Mike Wells agreed with Vasiljevic, praising the entire club for the professionalism it showed on one of the longest road trips in the NBL.

“Since the Sydney game we are 4-2 and played some really, really good minutes, we have won a lot of quarters,” Wells said.

“The group is continuing to grow, they were locked in from the meeting this morning.

“We wanted to set the tone early, we wanted to set the tone at the defensive end.”

Vasiljevic admitted he was aiming for an 11^th triple, which would have given him the outright record for the NBL in the 40-minute era.

“Hell yeah I was, I will hear it from my dad later on that I should’ve made more, but I’m top of the leaderboard now I’ve done it two times,” Vasiljevic said.

“You just think it’s going in every time you shoot it.

“The hoop becomes like a hula hoop, you throw it up for anywhere and it goes in.

“Once you get going, it’s hard to stop.

“It’s a credit to my guys and the coaching staff for running plays for me when I get hot.

“But, most importantly is the win, and we continue our playoff push.”

Adelaide will be back in action on Friday night when the 36ers travel to Sydney to battle the Kings at Qudos Bank Arena from 7pm ACDT.