Can 36ers mount Finals push?

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Derek Rucker believes despite Adelaide's improvement, the 36ers have left themselves too much to do.

As the end of the NBL24 regular season inches closer, every game is gathering more and more meaning for those four sides currently adrift of the six post-season places in the competition.

Adelaide is the furthest away, in tenth place, and Derek Rucker believes despite the 36ers’ improved play, they may have left themselves too much to do in the run home.

The 36ers will be without star forward Jacob Wiley and Next Star Trentyn Flowers for Wednesday night's clash with the Phoenix, who are themselves walking wounded without Craig Moller, Alan Williams and potentially Gary Browne. The Puerto Rican is currently listed as a game-time decision.

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Adelaide has won seven of its 21 games this season to sit bottom of the ladder, while South East Melbourne currently sits in eighth with nine victories.

“I’m not knocking them because they’re certainly playing better, but they need all their horses and Wiley is a big out,” Rucker said on NBL Now. “[Finals is] probably just slightly out of the realm of possible.

“All these games matter for everyone and Adelaide is still a mathematical possibility, but this game in particular is kind of the wounded vs the wounded.

“Who’s the better team in this situation? I’m probably going to lean towards South East Melbourne, because the game probably means more for South East Melbourne. They’re only a game out of third place, despite having not been great.

“We’ve seen South East Melbourne get blown out and look horrible recently, but they could very well turn it around here. They have enough talent, they have one of the best players in the league in Mitch Creek, so you really can’t rule anyone out at this point of the season. It’s going to be a fascinating game tonight to open this round.”

Rucker’s assertion that Finals basketball may just be beyond the reach of the 36ers has come off the back of ESPN’s Olgun Uluc reporting the side is interested in recruiting legendary Australian basketball coach Brian Goorjian to the club’s head coaching role.

Uluc has reported on NBL Overtime there is “some level of interest” from Goorjian, who recently told News Corp he sees himself coaching domestically somewhere next season if the right opportunity arises.

Uluc said “this isn’t blind interest or hope” on the part of the 36ers, and “there is an expectation that there would be some interest from Goorjian”.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Could Brian Goorjian be the next Adelaide head coach?<a href="https://twitter.com/OlgunUluc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OlgunUluc</a> reports that the Club have him at the top of their list.<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLOvertime?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLOvertime</a> on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/EILJbjOFU7">pic.twitter.com/EILJbjOFU7</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1747184025612038234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Rucker believes while the reported mutual interest is a tick for Adelaide, he’s not sure Goorjian is the right fit for the 36ers.

“Good idea, good early message by the Adelaide 36ers, get it out there, let Brian Goorjian know you’re interested, show the player marketplace what type of moves you’re keen to make,” Rucker said.

“Is Goorjian a good fit? I don’t know if I love it – I would prefer to see him in a bigger marketplace and somewhere he can really impact the league.

“He did the stint in Illawarra, was really good, he turned that program around when he was there but I think Goorjian is a big city guy and I’d love to see him land somewhere big, have an impact and help the league grow.”

Adelaide clashes with South East Melbourne tonight at 7:30pm AEDT, live on ESPN via Kayo.