"No Excuses" For Homecoming 36ers

Returning to Adelaide on a high after their win against the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, the Adelaide 36ers are ready to put on a show for their fans at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Thursday night against the Tasmania JackJumpers in their NBL season-opener.

“The stars are out to play,” 36ers captain Mitch McCarron said. 

Adelaide enters the campaign with a loaded roster including McCarron, Antonius Cleveland, Robert Franks and Craig Randall II. Championship expectations have already been set for CJ Bruton’s men, but it won’t be an easy opening game.

The JackJumpers won their first game of the season last weekend and are looking to fight back from a 1-3 start – something McCarron is well aware of.

“I think they’re going to be desperate; they just got their first win,” McCarron said. 

“They know that losing a bunch of games early can hurt you later in the season so I’m sure they’re motivated coming to Adelaide.” 

The 36ers enter the season behind the eight ball, with the JackJumpers already having played four games. 

McCarron assured the team is ready to get onto the NBL court and play with a championship in mind.

“We’ve got some talented imports and we knew they were going to be good,” he said.  

“They’re locked in, we’re ready to go and the goal is a championship.

“We know we’re behind the eight-ball a little bit, in terms of, it’s round three now, we haven’t played a game yet, so we’re ready to go.

“There’s no excuses from us. We know what the standard is and we want to meet it.”

A massive crowd is expected to greet their homecoming stars. 

“I’m excited for a healthy roster to be available,” McCarron said. 

“For us it’s a big focus because it’s our home opener, hopefully we have a great crowd, and everyone can turn it on for the fans.

“I think we have got a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things and hopefully they can put that on show.”