PART I - 36ers move to Summer vibes

Adelaide 36ers will celebrate the 25-year anniversary of the 1998/99 NBL championship this Saturday night at home against Melbourne United.

We sat down with 1998/99 championship captain and Larry Sengstock Medallist Brett Maher to reminisce about the pathway to back-to-back titles.

PART I - SUMMER VIBES

The 1998/99 season was the first summer campaign for the NBL and the defending champions got off to a slow start, winning just two of the first six games.

Adelaide slumped to a 2-4 record after back-to-back losses against the competition’s new franchise West Sydney Razorbacks and Brisbane Bullets on home court and Maher said there was a switch in focus.

“It was a big change, and it really changes your mindset, you have to be on your game every single game because everyone is trying to knock you off more than normal,” Maher said.

“It was all new to us to be in that position, those Melbourne teams were controlling those spots at that time.”

The 36ers won five of the next six games, which included a Darnell Mee buzzer beater on Boxing Day to defeat Victoria Titans.

“The season was on us almost straight away and in the end we had a very good season and a lot of teams were trying to chase us down,” Maher said.

TOP OF THE TABLE
Going into the final round of the regular season, Adelaide faced a tough double header on the road to the Bullets in Brisbane on Friday night, before backing up in Townsville against the Crocodiles on the Saturday night.

Adelaide had to win both games and rely on Melbourne Tigers to lose at home to Perth Wildcats to claim the all-important top spot on the ladder after round 23.

The Tigers had all but claimed top spot after Melbourne’s 90-87 win against the 36ers in Adelaide in round 21, but then lost to Canberra Cannons at home 92-86 in round 22, while Adelaide defeated the Cannons the night before Canberra won in Melbourne 119-115.

Melbourne did fall to the Wildcats 89-81 on their home floor, while on the same night Adelaide took care of business in Brisbane, defeating the Bullets 98-83.

Adelaide then travelled to Townsville on Saturday and defeated the Crocodiles 107-92 to claim top spot, and the all-important home court advantage throughout the playoffs.

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“That was huge for us, when you look at the finals, to have home court advantage was such a massive advantage for us, especially seeing the grand final went to game three, that made a big, big difference,” Maher said.

Maher said after the slow start, the 36ers found their grove and Adelaide won nine of the final 10 games to get the No.1 position.

“It was just about finding our feet again, we had a few changes from that ’98 team,” Maher said.

“We lost John Rillie and Dean Brogan, but we brought in David Stiff and it took us a little while to adapt to that.

“But once we got going, we found our way up to the top of the ladder pretty quickly.”

CHECK BACK ON TUESDAY FOR PART II - 98/99 PLAYOFF CAMPAIGN