Round 10 Preview v Perth Wildcats

With Josh Giddey joining Isaac Humphries on the sidelines, the deck is stacked against the Adelaide 36ers as they head west to take on the Perth Wildcats on Monday night, but this is the exact opportunity to make a stand at the same time.

There's no denying the challenge that is ahead of the 36ers on Monday night at RAC Arena.

They will have 10,000 screaming Red Army fans against them, they will be without their starting centre and starting point guard, and then there's the small matter of the opposition.

The Wildcats are looking to make it a championship three-peat this season and right now they sit on top of the NBL table with a 10-4 record having won eight of their past nine matches including last Sunday's comeback against the Sixers in Melbourne after being 26 points down.

Perth has now enjoyed the week back home, they beat the Cairns Taipans comprehensively on Friday night and now have been sitting and waiting for the arrival of the 36ers ever since.

And you can understand why the Wildcats will be feeling full of confidence ahead of Monday's contest with the form they are in, being back home and with what happened in the second half last Sunday against the Sixers during the NBL Cup.

But what better time than for the 36ers to go into Perth, cause the upset and show just what heart this team has, and what they are still capable of delivering even without a couple of key players.

Throw in the fact that it will be coach Conner Henry's first game coaching back in Perth in charge of an opposition team and the motivation levels are going to be at fever pitch for the 36ers to get the bounce back victory.

Monday night will signal Adelaide's first game in Perth since the end of the 2019/20 season which marked the end of an era.

From that team that played at RAC Arena on February 15 last year and lost by 15 points, Obi Kyei, Kevin White, Harry Froling, Eric Griffin, Anthony Drmic, Jerome Randle and Michael Harris are no longer at the Sixers.

Brendan Teys, Jack McVeigh, Daniel Dillon and Daniel Johnson remain as does Alex Mudronja even though he didn’t hit the floor in that game.

While the Sixers don't have Humphries and Giddey on the return this Monday night, they do have Sunday Dech, Brandon Paul, Tony Crocker, Keanu Pinder and Jack Purchase to join Johnson, Teys, Dillon, McVeigh and Mudronja with Henry at the helm.

Now it can't be glossed over what the absence of Humphries and Giddey means. They are combining to average 26.1 points, 14.6 rebounds and 7.7 assists a game this season so far, but what their absence does mean is opportunities.

Covering for Humphries is something that the Sixers have had some time to adjust to, but now with Giddey out after hurting his ankle late in Saturday's loss in Melbourne to the South East Melbourne Phoenix, it presents other opportunities in the backcourt.

Depending on what Henry and the coaching staff decide upon, it might present Paul with his first start with the 36ers with Dech shifting into the point guard role or potentially one of Teys, Dillon or Mudronja might earn a start as the point guard.

There has been plenty to like about the way the Sixers have performed over the last five games as well in response to the horror loss to the New Zealand Breakers.

The Sixers put in an encouraging performance next up against the Illawarra Hawks before then beating the Cairns Taipans by 10 points as part of the NBL Cup in Melbourne.

Next up was another strong showing and narrow loss to the in-form Brisbane Bullets and then there was last Sunday against the Wildcats to close the NBL Cup.

The 36ers delivered their best first half of the season putting 60 points on the Wildcats who were on their way to winning the NBL Cup. 

The Sixers led by as much as 26 points late in the second quarter with Paul delivering a stunning debut with 16 first half points with the rest of the team along for the ride. 

The second half obviously didn’t go to plan starting with Perth scoring the opening 19 points, but at least Adelaide comes away knowing what they can do against the Wildcats when things are clicking.

Following that the Sixers were able to spend the week back home in Adelaide before returning to Melbourne to play the Phoenix on Saturday. 

Again there was a lot to like about what the 36ers produced and they were on track to win most of the way until South East Melbourne was able to get the game into overtime, and then execute the better of the two teams in the extra period.

Paul came to life in the fourth quarter with 15 of his 20 points for Adelaide and for him to put up 45 points over his first two NBL appearances is impressive.

For coach Henry, he likes what he is seeing from his new star but the offence remains a work in progress.

"We just did a better job of getting him the ball in some pretty good space to operate. And he made shots and that's what he can do for us," Henry said. 

"We still have to find the balance on our offence right now and we're not executing at a high level, and we're down of course Ice out but there's plenty on the team to execute better. We just have to keep working at it."

Despite the 36ers having now lost six of the past seven matches to slip to a 7-11 record and to be without Giddey and Humphries for now, the fact remains there is still 18 games of the season to go and rightfully, Henry is still confident of things coming together starting in Perth on Monday.

"We still have 18 games left and 12 of those are going to be on the road and six at home so there's plenty of life left. It's just an execution thing for us and at times we don't get it done on the offensive end," Henry said. 

"That is a glaring part of where we're at right now but we've got plenty of room to still get better this season and we've shown some signs really over the last three or four games of being right there. 

"Each loss really hurts so the boys are hurting and we keep getting close, and we have to heal up now and go out west to play on Monday."

HUNGRY JACK'S 2021 NBL SEASON – ROUND 10

ADELAIDE 36ERS v PERTH WILDCATS
RAC Arena, Monday 9.00pm ACDT

Broadcast – ESPN, SBS on Demand, NBL TV, Twitch