Wells: “Ultimate professional” Jenkins expected to feature in HoopsFest

Adelaide 36ers Head Coach Mike Wells expects new recruit John Jenkins to suit up in Sunday’s HoopsFest game in Perth, but he has stopped short on revealing how many minutes the American might play.

Jenkins flew straight to Perth on Thursday and will join with the side on Friday evening, having been signed earlier in the week from his Romanian club CS Valcea 1924.

While the 34-year-old played his most recent game on January 5 and he is match fit, Wells said he wasn’t sure how much time he might get on the court against South East Melbourne.

But the coach said he knew he would be capable of playing given the NBA experienced Jenkins’ professionalism.

“I've been around John in the past a couple of years with USA basketball and some of those World Cup qualifiers,” Wells said.

“What you're going to see is the ultimate professional. He's going to fit our group on and off to court.

“He's got an elite ability to shoot the ball, but he also does a lot more than that because he's a true professional, and he'll fit our group, and he he'll add some things to the group, and I'm excited about mixing him with the group.

“A true professional is somebody that's never out of shape. takes care of their body, on and off the court, knows everybody else's job and responsibility the way he knows his own.

“You do what you do, and you make sure that your main thing is your main thing. And John's main thing has always been shooting.

“He's been playing, which is also another key. It's not like he's been sitting in the States doing one on zero workouts…

“We'll just kind of have to see once we mix him with a group how it looks, but I expect him to get his feet under him really quickly.”

Jenkins joins the Sixers after fellow import Troy Brown Jnr advised the club of his desire to return to the United States.

Wells said he respected Brown’s decision and wanted the best for someone he enjoyed coaching and liked both as a player and person.

He said the side would look different with Jenkins than it had with Brown.

“It's unfortunate that he felt like he needed to go home, but I really enjoyed coaching him,” Wells said of Brown.

“I really enjoyed him with our group. He did some really, really good things out there, and I just wish him the best.

“John's a different guy, so I don't know if I want to compare (them), but you know, we'll see how that looks as we go, but it will change us.”

That the club was able to find a replacement player so quickly, Wells said pointed to a level of professionalism and preparation on behalf of the leadership.

“As an organisation, if you're not keeping track of where all the players are all over the world, I don't think you're doing your due diligence,” Wells explained.

“One of the things that (GM of Basketball Operations) Matt Weston and myself have been working on is we constantly are watching all the leagues around the world.

“You're watching all the Australian players all around the world. You know where your free agents are and who's where and who's doing what, and who's got a job and who doesn't have a job.

“I think those are just levels of professionalism for an organisation. So if something happens, you should know exactly there's a pool that may fits your criteria.

“At this point in the year, 24 games (in), I kind of think I have an idea of what we need and don't need. So, there was a list of guys, and we kind of went through the list, and you know, you start getting on the phones with agents and players, and you kind of knew where some people were, obviously, and so those things happen quickly.”

Sunday’s clash is expected to close HoopsFest with a bang, featuring the Hungry Jack’s NBL’s top two teams.

Wells said he was a fan of the HoopsFest concept, even if he had bad memories of losing there to Sydney last year.

But he said he was looking forward to uniting the NBL, WNBL and community basketball in one place.

“I liked the fact the whole league's there,” he said.

“It's good to see everybody and it's kind of an interesting game for us to fly over there and play.

“It'll be an 11:30(am) tip off there, which will be a little bit different too and, you know, it'll be a good challenge, I would imagine, for both teams to see where we're at with nine (games) to play.”

Sunday’s game tips off at 2pm ACDT / 11:30am AWST.