Vasiljevic reaches scoring milestone but just wants to win
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Adelaide 36ers Media
DJ Vasiljevic ticked over 1000 NBL points for the Adelaide 36ers in Sunday night’s win over Illawarra, but personal milestones are not front of mind for the experienced club co-captain.
Vasiljevic scored his 1000th 36ers point with a trademark pull up three-pointer in the last quarter and added five more points to help his side to a 90-88 win at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
He finished with 16 points, three rebounds and three assists for the game and was one of five Sixers to reach double figures for scoring.
With some commentators suggesting the Sixers are lacking scoring options and are too reliant on star signing Bryce Cotton, that was a pleasing aspect of the win for Vasiljevic.
“When Bryce doesn't have 30 points, it's easy for us to kind of, you know, go to the next option,” Vasiljevic said.
“And a lot of teams are going to try to take him away, but when you've got guys who know positions, know when to score, (it) makes life a lot easier for everyone else.”
While his scoring output is down on previous seasons, Vasiljevic is playing a more selfless role so far, spacing the floor and providing a decoy to allow others around him to find the basket.
The Sixers’ co-captain says he is happy to do whatever is required of him with his focus purely on winning by playing basketball the right way with a good group around him.
“I just want to win,” he said.
“I came here wanting to change a culture. Me and Isaac (Humphries) decided to sign long term.
“We went and recruited a great players, not just on the court, but off the court.
“Everyone wants to hang out and have fun and everyone's interacting.
“(At the) end of the day, your career matters on how many championships you've got. I have won two in Sydney, but I've turned a new leaf in my chapter where I want to stay here and see if I can retire and hopefully not just win one championship, I want to try and bring multiple here.
“I'm all about winning and hopefully I can help the team in that way.”
And Vasiljevic had an idea for the NBL regarding the Indigenous Round jerseys clubs wore over the last two weeks.
The Sixers wore a design by local artist Temaana Yundu Sanderson-Bromley, a proud Adnyamathanha (Flinders Ranges), Narungga (Yorke Peninsula) and Wangkangurru-Yarluyandi (Simpson Desert) man with support from students at the Aboriginal Basketball Academy.
“Obviously it's a cool design,” he smiled.
“My partner is a proud Yorta Yorta woman from Victoria, Paigan (Impey), so I know, it's a good round to celebrate culturally (and I’m) a big fan of the round.
“I wish we could wear (the Indigenous jerseys) more throughout the year, you know, not just have one round or one or two weeks of it.
“I think we can do it a lot more and allow teams to wear what they want as long as they don't clash with the other teams.”
Vasiljevic’s side is now 6-2 ahead of a trip to New Zealand to face the Breakers on Thursday night.
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