Wiley's faith Sixers can turn season around

Adelaide 36ers power forward Jacob Wiley says his side is moving in the right direction despite Saturday night’s 107-96 loss to Melbourne United at John Cain Arena.

Wiley again brought the energy at both ends of the floor, scoring 14 points and hauling in nine rebounds, and is confident his side will continue to make strides forward.

“I think our team is a lot better than what we get credit for,” Wiley said post-game.

“We have had a lot of moving parts, a lot of craziness over the past two weeks, but we are doing our best to bring it together.

“I feel that the last couple of games we have shown that and with Scotty with have a newfound energy.

“We are fighting, we are doing everything we can every day to compete and to put on a good show for our fans.

“I think it’s looking up for us from here.”

Wiley said the new-look Sixers have a fresh direction under new head coach Scott Ninnis and know what needs to be done to turn around the NBL24 campaign.

“We are focusing on the things we can control which are competing, energy, playing hard, staying positive, being together and I think you saw that (against United),” Wiley said.

“We got down big, fought back, rallied back, on the road against a really good team, had a chance to take the lead, but made some mistakes, but overall, the focus was there.”

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The 203cm power forward has combined well with fellow big man Isaac Humphries all season, Humphries on Saturday night scoring 16 points to go with eight rebounds as the frontcourt pair held their own against United’s Jo Lual-Acuil and Ariel Hukporti.

“It’s fun (playing alongside Humphries), he makes it easy, he draws a lot of attention, and he holds it down in the interior, five block shots, he has got great timing, and he has got really good touch around the basket,” Wiley said.

“It forces teams to collapse, which opens things up for us.”

Adelaide will be back in action on Christmas Eve when the 36ers host Brisbane Bullets at the Entertainment Centre from 1.30pm ACDT.