McCarron says 36ers are building towards big start

Adelaide 36ers captain Mitch McCarron is confident his side can go to Brisbane on Friday night and start the NBL24 season with a victory.

Despite going winless at the NBL Blitz on the Gold Coast last week and only tasting success once this pre-season, McCarron said the side is in great spirits ahead of Friday night’s opener.

“We had a really good practice today (Wednesday), it was super competitive,” McCarron said.

“I feel like we have been building from the Blitz, where we weren’t at the level we needed to be.

“But again, we are 0-0, so we need to walk into Brisbane and try to get the win to start off our season.”

McCarron said the 86-82 loss to Tasmania JackJumpers in the club’s final NBL Blitz game was a major step forward, especially as the 36ers were missing Jacob Wiley, Trey Kell and Jason Cadee.

“I thought we played really well (in the third game), and we had some guys out, no that’s an excuse, I just thought everybody lifted, and that’s what we need,” McCarron said.

“We are going to see some adversity throughout the year, guys will be out sick, or whatever, so we just need everyone to chip in.

“Jacob and Trey were big outs for us during the Blitz, but they are two guys who have been around, played in a lot of different countries, so they will be fine for the first game.”

The 189cm guard said the club has moved on from the mutual release of import swingman Jamaal Franklin earlier this week and the total focus is now on starting off strong in Brisbane.

“In terms of the players, we don’t make those type of decisions, our job is to rock up and be ready to play in round one,” McCarron said.

“Jamaal is a great guy and I think he handled that really, really well and he was great around the group, but for now we just have to move forward.

“The thing with the NBL, is you don’t have time to waste, we play Friday night, we play again at home on Sunday, and then we have another double header on the road the next weekend.”