36ers' plan to unlock "explosive scorer"

The Adelaide 36ers will be looking in the mirror this week after splitting their Round 7 games.

They first secured a gritty road win over the Breakers in New Zealand on Friday, but backed it up with a tough loss on their home court against Brisbane on Sunday.

“We had wide open looks, we got to knock them down,” Trevor Gleeson said following Sunday’s game.

“If the offence or Bryce [Cotton’s] ability gives you open looks, your job as a professional athlete is to knock those down.”

Adelaide hit just 6/32 attempts from beyond the arc, with Cotton and John Jenkins combining for 4/21.

Jenkins, who has been in the spotlight in recent weeks, was coming off a 21-point night in New Zealand two days prior, but shot just 3-14 from the field against the Bullets.

“John’s not shooting a real high clip and we got to get back in the gym and get him shooting a high clip,” Gleeson said about his import’s struggles.

“He’s such an explosive scorer, he can hit four threes in a row.

“But we got to get him shooting over 40 per cent during the competition. I’m not sure what he’s shooting but I don’t think it’s anywhere near that.”

While it was a tough night shooting for the entire 36ers team, the Bullets had a clear game plan to tempt some of Adelaide’s role players to shoot from outside, including young guard Keanu Rasmussen.

“It’s a little bit different when you’re that wide open,” Gleeson said.

“We talked about it, obviously we didn’t have time to get on the court to practise it.

“We talked about how you’re going to get open looks, be ready, follow through and trust your technique.

“It wasn’t just Keanu. I think there was a lot of guys open and it’s their jobs to knock those down.

“That’s how good players get to great players, being consistent.”

Adelaide next hosts Illawarra on Saturday from 5.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN, 9Go! and 9Now.