"Depths of hell": Adelaide's relentless pledge for success

The Adelaide 36ers will leave no stone unturned in their pursuit of a championship, according to Zylan Cheatham.

High standards are driving the 36ers’ quest for success, with the star import pointing to an “absolute war” at training over the past week.

“Guys were holding each other accountable and everyone stepped up,” Cheatham told CODE Sports.

The 29-year-old is taking it upon himself to keep his teammates at the top of their game.

“If that standard is not met, I’m willing to go to, respectfully, to the depths of hell to find it,” Cheatham said. “Anytime training is lacking energy or I feel that guys aren’t locked in or we’re going through the motions, I’m the one who will definitely speak up about it.”

Cheatham has "unfinished business" too. He has returned with a mission to claim the All NBL First Team honours he missed out on during his last stint in the league.

“That really didn’t sit well with me, and then not making any All NBL teams and not really getting, I felt, the respect I deserved in the league, it kind of put that fire in my belly. I wanted to come back because I have unfinished business,” he said.

Adelaide started its Hungry Jack’s NBL26 season on a positive note on Sunday with a win over Brisbane, but the performance was far from perfect.

With Nick Rakocevic arriving in the country earlier this week, the 36ers’ squad is finally together as one, but coach Mike Wells admits it could take some time to gel.

The departure of a player of Montrezl Harrell's calibre will no doubt take some getting used to.

“We’ve got the most new players of any team in the league. There are going to be growing pains,” Wells said.

“We saw some really good stretches on Sunday. We also saw some stretches where we would like to have a bit more rhythm.

“We will keep trying to reconnect the group and keep moving forward.”

Adelaide takes on Cairns in enemy territory on Thursday night from 7.30pm AEST, live on ESPN.

Read full story here >> Adelaide 36ers star import Zylan Cheatham opens up on Montrezl Harrell’s shock exit and how his has team gone to war in a bid to break a two-decade NBL title drought