Wells proud of first effort against Kings

Head coach Mike Wells was impressed with the resolve of his squad but lamented on what could have been in Sunday afternoon’s NBL25 season opening loss to Sydney Kings at HoopsFest in Perth.

The 36ers trailed by 16 points in the first quarter and 15 points in the second quarter, but fought back to take a five-point lead into the final stanza before going down 102-94.

Wells said the fight his side showed was encouraging and to get back and having an opportunity to win showed great resilience.

“I was proud of my guys, it’s our first step, Sydney is a helluva ream with so many different weapons and different ways to beat you,” Wells said post match.

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“I felt like we competed, and we kept working to try and find the solution to win the game, we just came up a little short.”

Adelaide was on fire from downtown basically the entire 40 minutes, shooting 61 per cent from the three-point line, but Wells said the Kings had too many opportunities from beyond the arc.

“Them executing to the fact they get 44 three-point attempts, is going to be an issue, six in the first, six in the fourth, and offensive rebounds is another thing in there as well,” Wells said.

“We shot the ball well, we got open looks, we shared the ball from one side to the other.

“We had some really good performances from some guys and we were willing to give the extra pass.

“I thought we competed at a really high level, it’s a really, really encouraging first step, we did a lot of positive things.”

Wells was also pleased in how his side executed, but was disappointed in the 16 turnovers, which led to a 21-10 points from turnovers stat in favour of the Kings.

“When we got to play in the half court, I was really, really impressed with our ability to execute and get the shots that we wanted,” Wells said.

“As the season goes on and we hopefully play in those bigger games, the game slows down and we are going to play in the half court more.”

Adelaide will get their next chance this Saturday when the 36ers travel to Far North Queensland to battle Cairns Taipans from 5pm, you can catch all the action live and exclusive on ESPN via Kayo Sports.