Wells: Disruptive Kings stopped Sixers' rhythm

Adelaide 36ers Head Coach Mike Wells has paid tribute to the disruptive game plan employed by the Sydney Kings in Saturday night’s disappointing loss at home.

Looking for four wins to start the season to continue the club’s best start to a campaign in 25 years, the Sixers failed to find any real rhythm in front of a record 10,021 crowd - a 24^th straight sell-out at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

The 79-103 loss was his side’s first of the campaign, and Wells gave the Kings credit for their set up.

“We didn't play great tonight, but I think in the other games, you've seen us operate at a pretty high level for a new group and all the new players and things like that,” Wells said after the game.

“Today, it got a little hard, right? They had a good plan, they had good energy, they were disruptive on a lot of things, and that's just part of basketball.

“We really tried to get a rhythm; our guys were trying (but) you’ve got to give Sydney a lot of credit for being disruptive.”

A pragmatic Wells said the result and his side’s performance would provide plenty of learnings.

“I don't think we felt like we were going to go undefeated,” he explained. “It's too hard of a league, it's a long journey, 33 games.

“This will give us an opportunity to kind of go back in there and go to the drawing board and sync everybody up, and then we come back at it on Thursday.”

While much of the build-up externally was on the return to Adelaide of former Sixer Kendric Davis, it was probably the way Sydney was able to contain the man who beat him to the NBL MVP award last season, Bryce Cotton, that stole the headlines.

Cotton was kept to just seven points from only 17 attempts.

Wells said much of the responsibility for that fell on his shoulders.

“Leadership's about shouldering the responsibility, and he's a great player and we’ve got to figure out a way to get him more shots and to get him back to the ball," Wells said.

“All the years at Perth, there was sort of a built-in system around him at times, whether he was on ball or off ball, and we're trying to find that rhythm.

“We know that he's one of the most unselfish superstars of all time, too so if he starts to play and he gets off the ball, and it comes back to him a second time, he's still thinking, I'll make the right play. And today we just couldn't quite get the ball back to it.

“When you're looking up there (on the scoreboard) and he's in single digits on a lot of things, you're like, this isn't the right rhythm of the game.”

The Kings opened up a 13 point advantage in the first quarter with the Sixers uncharacteristically fumbly and Bryce Cotton held scoreless. Only a three pointer in the dying seconds to DJ Vasiljevic cut it the margin to 10 at the first break.

A run of ten straight points including Cotton’s first of the evening and some brilliant defending by Zylan Cheatham and Nick Rakocevic had the Sixers back within two points.

Not to be outdone, with Kouat Noi and Davis doing most of the damage, the Kings hit back and the lead extended back out to 15 points just before half time.

With just 41 points at half time it was the Sixers lowest scoring half of the season so far, while conversely the Kings had their highest scoring half with 54 points.

The home side was unable to eat into the advantage in the third period, but Flynn Cameron was at least a shining light, hitting some key shots and getting involved in just about anything good his side could conjure.

A 15-point deficit at the final break became 25 as the final period ticked away with the Sixers finding it hard to score and the Kings hitting nearly every shot.

Davis would foul out late but it mattered little as the Kings enjoyed their biggest ever victory in Adelaide.

Wells was disappointed with the result but saw some positives, among them the 26 team assists and the performance by Cameron (15 points, seven rebounds, seven assists), who he said was just “scratching the surface” of what he is capable of.

“I've been very, very impressed with him,” Wells said.

“He plays really hard. He's diligent - he's got his notebook, he's taken notes, he's watching film - you know, he wants the challenge of the best wing player offensively.

“It's a heck of a growth period for him and a really cool role to play along with DJ (Vasiljevic) and Bryce (Cotton) and these guys out there, and I can't be more excited about where he's at and where he's going to go.”

The Sixers are back home again on Thursday night to host South East Melbourne with tickets still available.