Wells: Full focus on Brisbane

Adelaide 36ers Head Coach Mike Wells says his side is focussed on getting off to a good start to the Hungry Jack's NBL26 season, beginning with Sunday's season opener against Brisbane.

The Sixers will host the Bullets at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, where the visitors have won on each of their past two trips.

The Sixers have added six new signings in the off-season with the squad getting its first minutes with star recruit Bryce Cotton in last Sunday's exhibition game against Greek champions Panathinaikos.

Speaking on Friday, Wells discussed keeping the side focussed despite the departure of import Montrezl Harrell, saying he was excited to get the season started.

“We've got just a really great group of guys,” he said about how the side has kept on task despite potential distractions this week.

“We're really mature. We're focused on the start of the season and the group that we have, and ready to go for NBL 26.

“(We want to) defend our home court, play at the Entertainment Centre, play in front of our fans again. I think there's a lot of things that keep us focused on the job at hand and we'll be ready to play.”

With six new recruits and only three players available this week who were part of the club last season, there is a sense of excitement and the unknown about what the side is capable of in NBL26.

Last week’s game against Panathinaikos was the first time Cotton and centre Isaac Humphries played with the side this pre-season, and Wells said there was plenty of potential.

“I thought through three quarters, we found ways to connect and, you know, throw really good punches at a really, really high calibre opponent.

“There's going to be some growing pains and there's some really good possessions and there's some possessions where we have to have a little more connection.

“But, you know, I love our intensity and I love our ability to communicate and keep talking and you know we'll grow they'll get used to playing with each other more the more minutes the more reps.

“I'm just excited about where it potentially can go.”

The focus of Sunday’s meeting with Brisbane is getting the season off to a good start, but it will come against a Bullets line-up that has had Adelaide’ s measure in recent years.

The Bullets have won six of the past seven meetings, dating back to January 2023.

“I was only involved with the last three and you know one of the guys that beat us up was Isaac White. That's why we went and got him,” Wells joked.

“They're a good team. They’ve got really good players. All three imports are impressive imports.

“They've got a little bit of different group. We've got a really different group right now.

“We've only got three returning players from last year so you know I don't know how much the history will play into this as in us just preparing and handling our business and being the best version of ourselves at Sunday at four o'clock.”

The club is on track to record a 22^nd straight home sell-out at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.