Gaze's delight with 36ers' win

Unfortunately only a few lucky Australians were in attendance to see the historic victory of the Adelaide 36ers over the Phoenix Suns at the Footprint Centre on Monday, but one of those lucky few sitting in the stands was Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze.

Gaze joined the commentary team during the opening half to offer some extra insight into the 36ers, and he was front and centre to watch Craig Randall II, Robert Franks and company put on a show against the star-studded NBA side.

“What a week we’ve had in basketball with the Opals doing their thing, and now I fly over here (Phoenix) to watch something really special,” Gaze told SEN.

“It was a packed house in Phoenix and to see the Adelaide 36ers put on a show just made us so proud.

“They shot the slop out of it. The way they shot the ball was just extraordinary. To see the stunned Phoenix fans … I was in the crowd and just the reaction and respect [towards] this team that I was able to gauge – fans were asking questions ‘why aren’t these guys on our team?’. Amazing.”

Adelaide shot out to an early lead in the first quarter and went on to lead the Suns at every break. In fact, they won three of the game’s four quarters.

Craig Randall and Robert Franks have deservedly stolen the headlines with their incredible offensive performances, while Antonius Cleveland and Mitch McCarron have also been the recipients of plenty of praise.

Veteran Daniel Johnson was hot in the first quarter, while some of his younger teammates were still finding their rhythm. Kai Sotto, Sunday Dech and Anthony Drmic were all capable contributors from the bench.

Gaze says the performance has shown the world the quality of the Australian game.

“He (Randall) had 35 [points] in the end … Franks had 32 and he’s one of my favourites. Daniel Johnson got them going and had eight of the first ten points – he had the crowd ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’,” Gaze said.

“It was amazing to be here and experience the reaction and the respect.

“They don’t know anything about us to be honest … the fans don’t know anything about Australian basketball and this is what part of the tour is about.

“The fans were stunned and they weren’t expecting it. It was just incredible that an NBL team in the Adelaide 36ers with CJ Bruton, the way in which they had a game plan and the shooting was something special.

“It’s not just about us in basketball, it’s about us as a nation and how we’re trying to promote Australia and all the good things about Australia. It’s been a fantastic start to the campaign.”

Adelaide plays the second and final game of its NBLxNBA tour against the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 7 at 11am AEDT, with the game live on Kayo Freebies and NBL.com.au. 

The clash will see Josh Giddey suit up against his former side for the first time, while former Breaker Ousmane Dieng could also feature for the Thunder.