Ninnis appointment draws champion's praise

With Scott Ninnis confirmed as the head coach of the 36ers for the next two seasons, Adelaide has a chance to build its new dynasty from the ground up, and Peter Hooley has praised the club for getting the deal done before the start of the NBL off-season.

It was announced Ninnis had signed a two-year deal with the club on Thursday morning, following Adelaide’s reported extensive discussions with Boomers head coach and NBL legend Brian Goorjian.

DJ Vasiljevic signed a three-year extension part-way through the NBL24 season, and with a raft of key and rotation players out of contract or in reported discussions to re-sign, Hooley says Adelaide has suddenly become an “enticing” project to be a part of.

“I’m glad it happened now with all the talk about Brian Goorjian and how close he got, with Olgun Uluc reporting it was nearly a pen-on-paper, and the fact they didn’t waste any time and said ‘let’s get this done because you’ve got a whole off-season now’,” Hooley said on NBL Now. “Scott Ninnis can put the team together he wants, the team he thinks can compete for a championship, have a lot of say in that.

“I want to see what he can do with five months of an off-season, a pre-season, a roster he has a big say in, and what kind of splash they can make in NBL25.

“There are some other names out there, there are some imports from the past that potentially want to come back, and I think now it’s an enticing place to go. You’ve kind of got a fresh start and a new coach and identity for this program.

“To be honest, I’m glad this occurred. In that last game they had absolutely nothing to play for, but the fans and the name on the jersey, the Adelaide 36ers, and they came out there and beat a New Zealand team that nearly had everything to play for in terms of getting a home final. They got the job done, so a lot of credit to them.”

Under Ninnis, Adelaide’s offence improved to the point where their high-octane style almost dragged the club to an unlikely Finals berth.

However, three of the five games in which Adelaide scored 100 points – four of which came under Ninnis – resulted in only two victories.

Hooley believes Ninnis will build his roster and then look to tighten up his side’s defence for next season, because poor defensive sides almost never compete for an NBL championship.

“In the NBL if you’re not an elite defensive team you’re going to be in trouble unless you’re a very good offensive team. Melbourne United can do both, Tasmania has always hung its hat on the defensive end and that’s why they’re always around the mark, when Perth turned things around, they locked it up defensively,” Hooley said.

“I think a lot of it is going to come around what team he’s allowed to build. With the way they’ve played Trey Kell has been really good, but they’ve been feeding the ball in low to Isaac Humphries, so once they lock in those bookends of the starting five and how the roster looks – and we’re expecting some movement around the bench as well – once that’s locked in you put in your defensive strategies.

“There’s no doubt they want to be high-octane on the offensive end, they’re going to be fun to watch and DJ Vasiljevic is going to get them up as he always does, but if you back that up with being very good defensively, if you’re elite offensively and very good defensively you can compete for a title.

“If you’re not elite and you’re ok offensively you can be around the mark. If you’re not there defensively it’s just not going to happen.”