Adelaide’s chemistry reset fuels Championship ambitions

Adelaide star Dejan Vasiljevic believes the 36ers have built a Championship-ready roster, armed with hard-earned lessons from their promising yet ultimately disappointing NBL25 campaign.

Mike Wells’ side exited in the Play-In Tournament after a season filled with flashes of brilliance but equally marked by inconsistency and frustration.

Despite the challenges, Vasiljevic believes Adelaide now has the right mix in place to push deeper into the Hungry Jack’s NBL26 campaign.

“The best thing we’ve done is recruit great people off the court,” he said on Nothing But Net.

“We didn’t have a great chemistry or bonding off the court last year and we’ve done more pretty much in the last three or four weeks than we did all of last year.

“We’ve just got to stay together on and off the court, and that will help our Championship run.”

The 36ers’ revamped roster is stacked with talent. With Bryce Cotton, Zylan Cheatham and Flynn Cameron leading the way, their recruitment has been sharp, calculated and on target.

Now the focus turns to fixing what went wrong in NBL25.

“It’s been a lot of teaching, especially for the younger guys,” Vasiljevic continued.

“Defence is going to be our number one key.

“We’ve got the talent to score, pretty much from any position from Bryce, to myself, to Trezz.

“We’ve just got to keep working together and gelling hard, then let everything fall into place.”

Vasiljevic, Isaac Humphries and Montrezl Harrell are the constants in the 36ers’ starting rotation, but it’s the arrival of a new signing that’s set to draw the spotlight.

A five-time MVP can transform a team’s fortunes, but Vasiljevic warns that without full buy-in and a united voice, success will remain out of reach.

“Bryce is a very introverted person so he leads without having to say too much,” he said.

“He just comes in, does his thing and he’ll speak when he needs to.

“Myself and Isaac have taken a bit more of a leadership role and we want to integrate him (Cotton), integrate Trezz (Harrell).

“We want everyone to have a say, if you’re player number one or player number 11. At the end of the day we’re all fighting for the same thing … a Championship.”

The 36ers will take on an NBL1 Select Team on Thursday night in Mount Gambier, with the game live and free on NBL.com.au and the NBL App.