Ninnis lauds Kell's toughness in defeat

Adelaide 36ers head coach Scott Ninnis has praised the toughness of point guard Trey Kell after Sunday afternoon’s 109-86 loss to Tasmania JackJumpers at MyState Bank Arena in Hobart.

Kell scored a game-high 29 points to go with 10 rebounds and three assists, but Ninnis had doubts his star import would even play against the JackJumpers.

“Before the game he was walking around about as good as I do these days,” Ninnis said.

“But to come out and shoot the ball like he did and carry us on his back was outstanding.

“I don’t think we will see him on court for a few days now.

“He was always going to play, and we will manage him for next Friday night.”

Ninnis was disappointed in the loss and said his side gave up too many offensive rebounds, Tasmania having 15 second chances at the hoop throughout the contest.

“It’s devastating, we set ourselves up nicely this calendar year and we have been playing some really good basketball and being doing some great stuff defensively,” Ninnis said.

“Obviously that didn’t happen tonight, and it all came unstuck for us. We weren’t up to the task tonight unfortunately.

“We tried to make adjustments, we tried to find line-ups that would work together, and apart for few times there in the second half it just felt like we were outmatched,

“We have had some good results recently, but they were able to pick us apart tonight.”

Ninnis said he will let his side take time to recover from the tough double header weekend as Adelaide prepares for a must win game next Friday night in Brisbane against the Bullets.

“We need to be as fresh as we possibly can be for Brisbane,” Ninnis said.

“If that means guys take two or three days off, then so be it.

“We can only control the next game, but we will prepare for Brisbane, and we have beaten them this season.

“I expect us to go up there and to win and to get back to the way we have been playing the past few weeks.”

Adelaide is back in action this Friday night when the 36ers travel to Brisbane to battle the Bullets at Nissan Arena from 7pm ACDT and you can watch all the action live and exclusive on ESPN via Kayo Sports.