Wells praises Humphries during ‘tough stretch’

Adelaide 36ers head coach Mike Wells has lauded big man Isaac Humphries after the 111-90 loss to Brisbane Bullets on Christmas Eve at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

Humphries finished with eight points and six rebounds and was prominent early but foul trouble in the opening quarter sent him to the bench.

Wells said they way his star centre has handled the past month has been a testament to his professionalism.

“I do want to praise Isaac Humphries, I think he has been a rock for us,” Wells said.

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“He says all the right things and he has played well.

“It’s been hard on the group, the group wants to win, but we still figuring out how to win.”

Wells said his side will now have to dig deep after falling to a 7-10 record and now face Perth Wildcats on home court this Saturday night.

“How you handle adversity is a big testament in life, you got to get through the hard times to get to the good times,” Wells said.

“Right now it happens to be a hard time for us and it’s been a hard time for us now for a while.

“We had some stability earlier in the year, playing guys major minutes, but we have had to go in different directions for a number of different reasons.”

Wells said his team will fight through the current situation and will look to bounce back at home on Saturday night.

“We have been kind of fighting through some things, we have been a little shorthanded, but they are not excuses,” Wells said.

“For a month we haven’t had everyone together, probably longer, the guys out there are trying on some levels, it’s got really hard on some levels.

“To stay connected when adversity hits is a true testament to a team in those type of moments, especially with a young group, it hasn’t worked out real positive for us.”

Wells said despite the losing skid, the club has found a lot of positives moving forward, especially looking towards the future.

“Our focus is always trying to build the program that is a sustainable system,” Wells said.

“You want to put your best players in the best position to be successful, you want to put your role players in a position where they can assist and do the things they do well.

“That has kind of changed with different player in and out of the line-up.”

Adelaide will be back on home court this Saturday night when the 36ers host Perth Wildcats at the Entertainment Centre from 7.30pm ACDT.