Vasiljevic says 36ers building in confidence

Adelaide 36ers captain DJ Vasiljevic said his side has belief heading to John Cain Arena for Sunday’s showdown with South East Melbourne Phoenix.

With a spot in the NBL25 semi-final series against Illawarra Hawks the prize for Sunday’s winner, Vasiljevic is keen to again lead from the front in the post-season.

The captain was huge in Thursday night’s 95-88 Play-In victory against Sydney Kings at Qudos Bank Arena, scoring a team-high 25 points, including seven three-pointers.

Vasiljevic said he understands his role and has let the game come to him, with Adelaide having many weapons at both ends of the court.

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“When you have KD (Kendric Davis), who I think is the best point guard in the league and Montrezl (Harrell), who I think is the best power forward in the league, it makes my life a little easier,” Vasiljevic said.

“If you want to go trap or double team, I can just sit there and wait for the ball to come to me.

“We share the load evenly; we are a very tough team to stop when we are connecting.”

Vasiljevic said Thursday night’s win was another step in the journey and his side has a lot of confidence going into Sunday’s game.

“A lot, even though we finished the regular season on a three-game losing streak, I think we made strides in Perth that shows when teams go on runs, so do we,” Vasiljevic said.

“We execute our plays, we rebound, and we run, it’s just a whole different ball game.”