'Look in the mirror': 36ers pledge accountability

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

"If anyone steps out of line we've got the ability to pull them back in."

Things had threatened to spiral out of control for Adelaide after three 20-plus point losses, but coach Mike Wells says he never lost faith in his injury and availability-hit team.

After a tumultuous couple of days, with comments from Isaac Humphries seemingly criticising Wells’ coaching style, and Montrezl Harrell leaving the court while Jason Cadee was talking to the playing group, the response against Sydney was one the club and its fans desperately needed.

The 36ers reportedly held a “crisis meeting” between players and coaching staff ahead of Monday night’s game, following a run of seven losses from the last eight games.

What followed was arguably the team's best performance of the season, with a 15-point win in enemy territory against the Kings.

"It's been an interesting six-plus weeks and I don’t know any other way to put it," Wells said post-game.

"We've not made any excuses and it's been something that we've had to go through, but guess what? We're here and I don’t know if this is our best win of the season ... I hope it's not and I think there's more ahead of this group as we try to get into form."

For just the second time since the disaster that was the November 17 loss in Melbourne that led to Montrezl Harrell and Kendric Davis getting suspended, Adelaide had that pair, along with captain DJ Vasiljevic in the game day squad.

Just 48 hours after that trio was part of a forgettable 24-point loss in Perth, they led their team to one of the most impressive first term displays you'll see. By quarter-time, Adelaide led Sydney 32-12, and the game was all but over.

The big guns all stepped up too, with Davis delivering 30 points and 9 assists and Harrell 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Vasiljevic finished his second game back with 19 points on 4-9 from three, opening up post-game what could be a defining moment in the 36ers' season.

"It's just telling everyone what they need to do and just looking at each other in the mirror and saying 'do we want to win, or do we want to just go home now?'," he said of the team meeting.

"Now if anyone steps out of line we've got the ability to pull them back in, because you said you want to be held accountable ... that includes me, includes Trezz (Harrell), includes KD (Davis), Mike, all the coaches ... it's everyone in the organisation.

"We'll just stick together and we'll keep moving forward."

Having a full complement of players at his disposal has been a rare privilege for Wells this year, and with Sunday Dech in line for a return this weekend, if there was ever a time for a revival, it's now.

"If you're expecting the 36ers to win with 60 points and all those other things out, I think you're disrespecting the rest of this league," Wells said.

"This is a hard playing, tough-arse league and when you've got your main guys out, man, it gets harder. I give my young guys a tonne of credit for battling and fighting, but it was nice to have some of the veterans back out there and to control this.

"That started with KD and he's hard to guard, and when he gets downhill, there's not a lot of guys that can do it.

"They try to blitz him, but that leaves shooters open on the back side and you can see Ice (Isaac Humphries) at the rim and what Trezz does, so we're just starting to actually get a rhythm at this point at the season.

"I hope that 2025 is better and we have a game on the fourth in Adelaide against (Melbourne) United, and I'm ready to play that one right now."