Adelaide: 'Next Two Must Win'

After returning from the US with a famous victory over the Phoenix Suns barely a month ago, you could have been excused for thinking the Adelaide 36ers would sweep all before them in NBL23.

But despite boasting a star-studded lineup and full of confidence on the back of an incredible pre-season, that’s been far from the case for the Adelaide 36ers.

In fact, they currently sit eighth on the NBL table with just two wins from five games.

It’s hardly the start CJ Bruton and his troops would have wanted to start the year, but the league’s top scorer Craig Randall says the team is continuing to build. 

"We're still getting better, obviously those two losses were big for us," Randall told the media on Tuesday. 

"We're still trying to build and figure it out, no excuses being made, we didn't have the best pre-season, we had people injured and in the FIBA window.

"When it clicks, it's going to click and I think everybody knows when it clicks, there won't be a lot said about us a team."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Craig Randall is cooking from WAY down town ?‍? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> <br><br>Watch live &amp; free ? 10 Peach &amp; 10play | Live on ESPN2 via Kayo &amp; Foxtel <a href="https://t.co/XtBuN9JJWu">pic.twitter.com/XtBuN9JJWu</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1586606511232413697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It could be a season-defining Round 6 for Randall and his teammates.

They’ll go in as favourites against a struggling Illawarra Hawks outfit in enemy territory on Thursday night, and face a Perth side coming off four consecutive losses back at home on Saturday. 

If the 36ers are going to be serious contenders this year, these are the ones they must win. And they know it. 

"These two games are two games we have circled,” Randall said. 

"We've got to win them, that's how we feel, we feel we need to win every game, but these two are big, because we just lost two in a row.

"To win these two games with some momentum coming back from the break will be big for us.”

Randall has been one of the standout players in the league so far this year, averaging close to 22 points a game and lighting it up from beyond the arc. 

Off the back of recent criticism posted online, he hit back at his doubters. 

"I don't win games by myself, and I don't lose games by myself," he said.

"When we lose, I know a lot of people have a lot to say about me, but I feel the same way every time. 

"My teammates get me open shots. I have the ball a lot, and teams are going to be on me, but there's no weight on my shoulders, it's just the way the game goes.

"A lot of people are making statements and assumptions through what they say, they don't really hear the conversations.

"People are going to have opinions and be critical, but the only criticism I listen to is from my coach, as long as he and my teammates are good with me, everybody can say what they want to say.

"Right now, we're not playing the best, but in February, when this all clicks and we're standing where I think we can stand, I hope everybody has that same energy towards us and me that they do now."