Wells “couldn’t ask for better” opening 14 games by Sixers

Head Coach Mike Wells says his Adelaide 36ers could not have asked for a better opening to the season having finished a punishing three-week stretch of games with an important win over South East Melbourne Phoenix on the road on Saturday night.

The 94-81 win broke a six-game losing run against the Phoenix at John Cain Arena and ensured the Sixers would go into the FIBA break in second place on the Hungry Jack’s NBL ladder with an 11-3 record.

But it didn’t always look like the Sixers would come away with the points. The Phoenix pressed high defensively and led by as much as 11 points before the game swung through a stirring second half showing by Wells’ side including a trademark DJ Vasiljevic shooting clinic in the last quarter.

Wells gave the Phoenix credit for the pressure they applied for much of the game but expressed his pride in the way his side responded after a disappointing first half.

“Facing that kind of pressure, for us to get organised in the second half, I thought it was a kind of unorganised and uneven and choppy of a first half,” Wells explained after the game.

“I thought we played that good of a second half where we really defended, we rebounded, Z (Zylan Cheatham) had 16 (rebounds), we won the rebounding game - just an outstanding effort - and then the offense kind of caught up, really by DJ making a couple of threes and changing the whole game because the ball started going in the net a little bit.”

Wells sprung a selection surprise, including the energetic Isaac White in his starting line-up and it seemed to work early with the Sixers going on an eight-point run to lead by four points off the back of some smart work in the key by Isaac Humphries.

But with Nathan Sobey and Jordan Hunter firing from deep, the Phoenix stole the advantage at the first break.

The home side had the first seven points of the second period and the deficit was out to 11 points, but with Zylan Cheatham battling hard on the defensive end and Humphries being the Sixers’ main avenue to the basket, the visitors worked their way back into the contest with 12 unanswered points of their own.

Some scrappiness before half time saw the Phoenix regain the advantage by six points as the sides headed to the locker rooms.

The home side’s high-press defence was proving hard to get past for the Sixers so they slowed the tempo and with Cheatham, Flynn Cameron and Bryce Cotton getting rolling they took back the advantage with a 30 point to 21 quarter.

The Phoenix were well served by former Sixer Nathan Sobey and captain Jordan Hunter, though with several players finding themselves in foul trouble, including Hunter, they started to tense up in the last period.

Going into the game, the Phoenix had won four of its last five games against Adelaide at John Cain Arena after trailing at three-quarter-time and had won the last six meetings between the sides at the venue, but somebody forgot to tell Sixers co-captain DJ Vasiljevic.

After having been parked on the bench for much of the first half, Vasiljevic caught fire, hitting 17 points for the final quarter including 6/9 from beyond the arc to push the lead out to 16 points.

The Phoenix tried late but couldn’t close beyond the 13-point final margin and Wells was delighted to go into the FIBA break at 11-3 on the back of a four-game winning run.

“For the most part, we probably couldn't ask for a better first stretch into this as a new group,” Wells said.

“As we're still forming and we're winning games and winning road games and that's huge, right?

“I would say, all things considered, it was a good first quarter of the season or whatever it's been, and, we get out of it healthy and we're in a good spot to get some practice under our belts here a little bit, get a little rest, get a little recovery and try to move the group forward, and see if we can figure out how to play 40 minutes instead of 20 or 30.

“But (I’m) extremely proud of the group. I think we're scratching the surface of how good we can be.”

After seven games in 20 days, the 36ers will return home to reset before their next game at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on December 5 against Brisbane.