Gleeson challenges Sixers to bring aggression after "passive" opening against Phoenix

Adelaide 36ers Head Coach Trevor Gleeson says he was disappointed that his side didn’t play the way it prepared in its road loss to South East Melbourne on Saturday night.

The Sixers conceded 72 points in the first half but fought to the end, keeping the Phoenix to just 36 in the second half and coming back from 34 points down to get within eight, before falling short 108-94.

The result sees the Sixers slip to a 4-5 record for the season so far.

Bryce Cotton again did his bit with an equal season-high 37 points to go with four rebounds and eight assists to lead all scorers and he was well supported by Nick Rakocevic (18 points, 17 rebounds, two assists) and Zylan Cheatham (21 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists), but it was not to be, as the Sixers were made to pay for a poor opening half.

“I really like the second half team,” Gleeson said. “I don't like the first half team.

“I thought we were ready to play, but they came out aggressive, we were passive.

“You can use what kind of adjectives you want in the first half, but (I’m) really disappointed how we came out.

“You know, you get 34 points down, what did we get it back to eight, I think it was, yeah so there was fight, without a question but we’ve got to play a lot more aggressive.”

Gleeson was most disappointed that his side knew to expect a lot of three-point attempts from the Phoenix but didn’t commit to stopping them.

“We didn't follow through what we said we were going to do and what we practised,” Gleeson said.

“So that was, obviously, why aren't we doing that? And then when it goes wrong, what are we doing? We're sitting back.

“I didn't think anyone was assertive.

“Go and foul them… I think we had three fouls the first half or four fouls the first half, and they didn't feel us at all.

“We're trying to be a good defensive team, and you can't do that.”

Going against their early season record, the Phoenix started on fire, hitting 8/8 from the field in the first four minutes including seven straight from three-point range to set up a 15 point advantage by that point.

The difference was 17 by quarter time with the Phoenix hitting ten threes and scoring 42 points for the period – the most by any side this season and a franchise record.

The Sixers started the second period looking slow and sloppy and the Phoenix forced repeated turnovers, going on a 22-0 scoring run to make it a 34-point lead, ticking over 50 points within two minutes and continuing to build.

Gleeson continued to swing changes to his line-up, trying to find the right blend, and with the Phoenix’s shooting percentage at 73 per-cent to Adelaide’s 41 per-cent, things just seemed to be getting worse with the sides going in at half time at 72-43.

Then something changed. The Sixers started defending with intensity and intent and found their scoring range going on a 13-0 scoring run to close to within 14 points at the final change.

Nick Rakocevic and Zylan Cheatham were the chief protagonists, involved physically and finding the basket with Rakocevic picking up two steals and a flagrant foul as well as copping a stray elbow to the face.

And while they took all the momentum into the final period, the Sixers would be slightly disappointed not to be closer on the scoreboard after missing a few open looks.

After another 10-0 run, the visiting side was within nine points, only to again miss some open shots, allowing the Phoenix to hit a couple of big threes and push the margin back to 16 points with 6:41 to play.

But to its credit, Gleeson’s side kept fighting, bringing it back to single digits in the last minute, with Cotton equaling his season high 37 points, but the Sixers had given themselves too much work to do after the poor opening half.

“The milk had already spilt in the first half,” Gleeson said, adding he challenged the group to commit to the team’s values and ethos at half time.

“It's hard to put it back in the bottle, but we competed, yeah, and hopefully that's something to build on the second half.”

The Sixers will next travel to New Zealand to take on the Breakers on Friday evening before finally getting home two days later for their first home game in a month, hosting Brisbane in a special 40th anniversary celebration of the 1986 Championship victory.

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