Wells hopeful of Cotton return for Sunday’s Ignite Cup Final

Adelaide 36ers Head Coach Mike Wells is hopeful five-time NBL MVP Bryce Cotton will be fit to play in Sunday’s Ignite Cup final after missing the loss to the Wildcats in Perth on Friday night.

Sydney’s win over Brisbane earlier in the night had meant there was little on the line for the Sixers, who were guaranteed second place on the ladder and a spot in the semi-finals with home court advantage.

And with Cotton sidelined with a back complaint, the Sixers went down fighting, coming from 19 points down to get within four points in the final period before falling 74-86.

Given there was nothing at stake, Wells was able to use the game to rotate his squad, and his bench stood up, pleasing the coach.

“It's been an exceptional group from day one to coach and to be around, and they just find ways to keep connecting,” he said.

“I thought you saw a great example of that today with a lot of the bench guys getting an extended run there.

"We won the second half. We went on a 14-4 run in the middle of it.

“I thought there was really a lot of great things… and probably the difference in the game was the three point shooting in the first half, and then the second half, it was one for eight.

“I thought we did a great job of adjusting and getting there and taking them off the line, and trying to make them do something else, and there was a lot of really good things there.”

As for whether Cotton will be fit to face New Zealand in the final of the Ignite Cup on the Gold Coast on Sunday, Wells was unable to commit.

“We'll see,” the coach said. “We’ve gotta fly across the country, so it’s not the most ideal situation for any of it.

“I'm not the medical guy so I'm not probably the expert to ask on that, but, he's led this league in minutes played and it's been a tough season.

“I think you saw at the game against (Melbourne) United, there was one or two plays where he kind of landed a little bit funny down there, and he's been our minute horse the whole year, so he's gonna take some bumps and bruises, so to speak, over a long, tough physical campaign.

“We'll see where we're at once we get over there and how he's feeling.”

With Cotton out, his co-captain DJ Vasiljevic came into the starting line-up and was immediately into the action, with five of the first seven points as the Sixers opened with the first nine points of the contest.

The Wildcats went scoreless for the opening four minutes before Jesse Wagstaff went to work and helped his side claw back the advantage to be up 19-17 at quarter time.

As the home side did in the first quarter, the visitors went scoreless for four minutes in the second period, allowing the Wildcats top open up a handy advantage and bring the home crowd into the game.

Nick Rakocevic did his best to drag Adelaide back into the contest, but Elijah Pepper found the hot hand for the Wildcats going at 5/7 from beyond the arc to race to 17 points by the main break, as the home side took a 14-point lead into half time.

When the advantage stretched to 19, it looked like the Wildcats would run away with the game, but Wells went to his bench and Keanu Rasmussen and Michael Harris brought great energy and some points to help the Sixers close to within seven points at the final break.

Rather than rely on a handful of individuals, the Sixers had all 10 of their players who saw game time with at least two points, while allowing Wells to rest his starters ahead of Sunday’s big Ignite Cup final.

Rakocevic was proving difficult for the Wildcats to contain before fouling out with 18 points, seven rebounds and two blocks and while they’d closed to within four points in the dying stages, that was as close as the Sixers would come.

Despite the result, Wells was thrilled with the effort and excited about having secured home court advantage for the semi-finals for the Sixers for the first time in eight years.

“I can't believe we’ve played 33 games,” Wells smiled, “it seems like it's flown by, but I'm fired up because this is what we all play for.

“You play to win championships, and if you're not excited about a time to be in the top two, and to have a home playoff, a home court advantage, and a series at home, I don't know what we're doing this for.

“It been a long time, or a little while since Adelaide's had that situation but that's why we get paid. That's why we are all here. It's to compete and to win and try to win a championship and bring that back to Adelaide.”

The Sixers will now travel east to play the Breakers on Sunday in the final of the inaugural Ignite Cup with the chance to win up to $300,000 in prize money.