Wells positive despite road defeat to Phoenix

Adelaide 36ers head coach Mike Wells says his side is improving despite Saturday night’s 106-86 loss to South East Melbourne Phoenix at John Cain Arena.

The 36ers went on a 10-0 run in the opening quarter to take the lead after the hosts scored the first eight points of the contest, but the Phoenix used a 30-16 second quarter to break the game open.

“Give them a lot of credit, the defensive pressure they had up the floor,” Wells said post-match.

“Pressure turns guys inward a little bit and you make some plays that way.

“It was hard for us to get some clean looks, it was hard for us to get the ball from one side to the other side of the floor.”

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Wells said the Phoenix forced his side into different shots and the team need to learn how to adapt to different schemes to limit the points production.

“We needed to get into a better rhythm offensively and they disrupted that, then we have to have the maturity to get to the position and get to spots where we want certain guys with the ball,” Wells said.

“We didn’t do that collectively today.

“Everybody in there is disappointed but there are things happening out there where we are improving, just not enough of them tonight.”

Adelaide was again missing starting wings DJ Vasiljevic and Sunday Dech, but Wells said his side had more than enough talent to win the game.

“We are in this weird situation right now where we have had guys out, guys coming back and we still have some guys out, but we are growing, it’s just a little more painful than we need it to be right now,” Wells said.

“Defensively, that is still a learning process for our team, trying to get to the three-point line, even the level of physicality we need on the road.”

Isaac Humphries was enormous early, scoring nine of his 17 points in the opening quarter to go with 10 rebounds.

“I give Ice a lot of credit for staying in there and what he did,” Wells said.

“Our young guys had some good looks in the first half as well.

“We will continue to build on this and the biggest thing for us right now is to go home and protect home court on Christmas Eve.”

Adelaide will battle Brisbane Bullets at the Entertainment Centre on Tuesday from 5pm ACDT.