Vibes are high but room for improvement for top-ranked Sixers

DJ Vasiljevic and his Adelaide 36ers teammates are starting to get used to being recognised and congratulated wherever they go these days.

Sitting top of the ladder with 19 wins from their first 23 games, there is a feeling around Adelaide that something special could happen in NBL26.

So when Vasiljevic arrived at the St Clair Recreation Centre for one of the club’s popular School Holiday Clinics on Wednesday and was mobbed by children calling out to him, he had to smile as he high fived each one of them.

“It's a bit crazy, especially now that's it’s obviously still school holidays and all we can do is try and give our knowledge back to these kids during these camps,” he said during a press conference with Adelaide media.

“But, it's pretty surreal. The vibe is high in Adelaide right now and we've just got to continue doing what we're doing.

“Obviously some people have been around a lot longer like Isaac (Humphries) and all them (but), we're just trying to change the culture and I think we're doing a good job in that aspect and obviously sit first on the ladder and winning games helps.”

The Sixers have not won more 19 games in a season for two decades and yet still have 10 games of the regular season remaining.

With the win over Brisbane on Sunday, the side opened up a four-game gap at the top of the Hungry Jack’s NBL ladder and the co-captain said it was a nice feeling being chased by the other sides, even if the pundits were not speaking about the Sixers as legitimate title threats just yet.

“It feels awesome, honestly,” Vasiljevic said. “You look at the first part of the season, it was Melbourne United (people were speaking about).

“I feel like now they talk about the Sydney Kings, so we're still not talked about yet.

“But, we're trying to not to be complacent and we're just trying to keep doing what we do best.

“We feel like we can get a bit better defensively, so we'll just keep doing what we can.”

And while Vasiljevic himself should be spoken about for the sixth man of the year award and many of his teammates and coaches must also be in contention for individual awards, it is a third career championship he is chasing – and his first in Sixers colours.

The club has not won an NBL championship since 2002 and Vasiljevic admits not being spoken about provides motivation to keep winning and keep getting better.

“I reckon it helps us not to be complacent,” he explained.

“There's always room for improvement and when people don't talk about us, it's the best because it motivates us some more to keep kind of going.

“In a basketball sense, we want to get better as athletes and we understand we still have a lot to do.

“We still have 10 games in the regular season to kind of get to where we want to and then obviously start the playoff front.”

While there are still plenty of games to come, Vasiljevic has put the side’s success so far down to being a well connected and culturally strong group.

“Those teams that hang out off the court a lot usually translates a lot easier on the court,” he said.

“It doesn't matter if you’ve played with them (before) or not. And we've got that this year.

“Everyone wants to hang out, everyone does things off the court together and that's probably the best type of feeling.

“I think it just (builds) a trust and kind of feeling to know someone off the court more than just a basketball player, and we did a lot of that at the start of the season and now we all just go hanging out and get dinners, go bowling, you know, do stuff like that.

“It's a breath of fresh air, honestly.”

Vasiljevic and his side will be back on the court, probably in front of some of those kids at the clinic, at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Friday night against Tasmania.