“It was a complete game”: Cheatham posts triple double in big win over Illawarra

Zylan Cheatham might have starred with the Hungry Jack’s NBL27 season’s first triple double, but the energetic forward has described his side’s win over Illawarra as a complete game by the whole group.

Cheatham had 21 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds in the Sixers’ 106-78 win over the Hawks on Saturday night, and was well supported by Bryce Cotton who also scored 21 points, as well as Nick Rakocevic who added 20 and 16 boards.

Cheatham played aggressive and attacking basketball throughout the game, shooting an impressive 72% from the field as well as committing zero turnovers.

Cheatham credited Head Coach Trevor Gleeson for allowing him to be himself on the court.

“Trevor told me before the game, ‘We just need you to be aggressive, be yourself,’” Cheatham said.

“I broke down a lot of film and obviously I'm critical of myself and how I’ve been playing, and some of the areas that I could be a little bit more aggressive.

“I just took all that into account. My teammates did a really good job playing off me and stuff.

“It was a good win…. it's just a complete game by the Sixers, I would say.”

Though Cheatham received some criticism by some early this season for not taking shots or not being aggressive enough, the Arizona native said that he has kept “trusting the system”.

“People were very critical of my first couple games, but I knew trusting the system, I was going to keep getting better and keep getting more reps at it, then I was going to find spots to not only be aggressive for myself, but for my teammates,” he said.

“So it's a work in progress, but again, tonight was definitely a step in the right direction.”

Speaking on the Sixers’ defensive performance against the Hawks, Cheatham praised the team’s effort particularly to start the game.

“We felt like we played elite defence for a quarter or for a half, but just hadn't put together four quarters,” Cheatham said about the Sixers’ defence this season.

“That was something that we were very adamant about. The start of the game was huge for us because it set the tone for the rest.

“A lot of times, we come out kind of stagnant, not really with the pressure that we want to put on teams, and we get down 10 points, teams start feeling good, guys shots are falling, and it's hard to cap that off.

“We were very adamant about starting the game well, being the aggressor, punching first.”

“I think we did well tonight.”

Cheatham praised fellow American Nick Rakocevic’s performance describing him as “the life of the team”.

“It’s a joy to have a big that has hands like that and is as skilled as he is,” Cheatham said.

“He bails us out of a lot of situations where we can just throw him the ball and he gets to a bucket or, you know, gets fouled.

“He’s a very critical piece to what we do. He slows the game down when we need it.

“The way he’s rebounding the ball is just, I mean, it's a joy to have.

“So, definitely want to up the standard with him and I don't want him to get comfortable at all.

“I mean, I'm proud of him, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Cheatham and the Sixers will stay in Adelaide to play Melbourne United on Thursday night.

The game tips off at 7:00pm and with limited tickets still available.

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