DJ Vasiljevic: Repaying the faith

The tides are turning in Adelaide. The 36ers have locked away four key pillars of their impending roster rebuild, and they’re already positioning themselves to make waves in NBL25.

The addition of new basketball operations manager Matt Weston is the latest in a string of moves that opened all the way back in Round 16 with the commitment of DJ Vasiljevic to a three-year deal to a club with which he had spent only three months, and the re-signing of both head coach Scott Ninnis and star center Isaac Humphries.

Two-time NBL champion guard Vasiljevic was a crucial piece in the changing of Adelaide’s fortunes during the back end of the regular season – and it was such a dramatic change of fortunes that the previously cellar-dwelling side barely missed out on the post-season.

The recently re-appointed head coach Scott Ninnis has been strongly and consistently bullish in his desire to build a strong core from which his roster can be constructed. Vasiljevic himself has been a member of such a core, and is helping lay that groundwork at the club.

In those back-to-back championships with the Kings, Vasiljevic and fellow starter Xavier Cooks helped form the bedrock of Chase Buford’s successful rosters, along with rotational pieces like Angus Glover, Shaun Bruce, and Jaylin Galloway.

That core was so strong that the loss of import trio Jaylen Adams, Jarell Martin and Ian Clark following that first championship didn’t prove at all catastrophic. Derrick Walton Jr, Tim Soares and Justin Simon plugged straight in to help lead the side to its second title in two years.

Vasiljevic (middle, top row) played a key role in Sydney's back-to-back titles in NBL22 and NBL23.

Vasiljevic says that key core is a recurring theme amongst the NBL’s most successful teams.

“If you can have guys like myself and Isaac for a three-year period it helps. You look at the teams who have been successful in the past like the Kings, United and Perth, they’ve always had a core group of guys and they’ve always re-signed for additional two-years’ and the teams have built around that,” Vasiljevic told NBL Media.

“Establishing a good core over a number of years is what’s needed to win a championship. Now, it might not happen next season, but the second or third year who knows what could happen if you have that core group that has played together and built good chemistry.

“If you build a good core it brings a great culture because everyone is comfortable with each other, and that’s when you plug in the imports, and that’s where the front office and coaches do their job.

“I think we showed glimpses last year towards the back end that we should be contending for top four or the Play-In, but we just had a poor start to the year. Once Scotty took over, we clicked into gear – it took us a few games – and the next thing you know we were upsetting United, and we won our series’ against them, the Hawks and Perth. The only team we couldn’t beat was Tassie.”

Vasiljevic, Humphries and Ninnis look set to be the spine from which Adelaide’s roster will be built out – along with the club’s remaining contracted players for next season Nick Marshall, Sunday Dech, Jason Cadee, and Jacob Wiley.

Fan-favourite Next Star Trentyn Flowers is also on a two-year deal, as all Next Stars are.

That roster – prior to Humphries’ re-signing a few weeks ago – offered any potential head coach a near blank canvas from which to build a team in their image ahead of next season, but Adelaide showed their faith and belief in Ninnis’ ability to pull the club out of its early-season slump by rewarding him with a two-year contract.

Ninnis always publicly stated his desire to remain head coach following his interim spell, and despite initial reports the club was pursuing recently appointed Sydney head coach Brian Goorjian to take the role, Vasiljevic says the opportunity is now there for Ninnis to create his own roster to play how he wants.

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“Scotty was able to take over and he was all deserving for it. When you’re up against one of the greatest coaches of all-time in Brian Goorjian there’s going to be some chatter and some competition, but I think Scotty said ‘look what we did’. Imagine what he can do when he can builds the roster he wants to,” Vasiljevic said.

“Now he’s got the chance we’ll get to see how that goes. I think we’re going to be very successful moving forward.  

“I think we showed glimpses towards the back end that we could win. We played with one to two imports because we had times where Trey or Jacob were out, and we never really had a healthy squad in my opinion.

“If you can see what Isaac’s done being one of the best bigs in the league and what I’ve been able to do since I left Sydney, I think Scott and the Adelaide core group has got the best out for me and I think it will continue to be better for me and for Isaac.”

For all the imminent discussion around contracts, free agency, imports and roster building, all Vasiljevic wants is for the 36ers to lay out an on-court product that the fans can be proud of.

After they were one of the NBL’s powerhouse sides of the late 1990s and early 2000s, the 36ers have not won a championship since the 2002 triumph against the West Sydney Razorbacks.

Club legend Brett Maher led the team to that championship, while Ninnis had only recently retired from playing and was an assistant coach.

The Razorbacks boasted a roster that included current NBL analyst Derek Rucker, Perth head coach John Rillie, and Bruce Bolden – who’s 28-year-old son Jonah represented the Sydney Kings this past season.

Brett Maher and Willie Farley celebrate the 2002 NBL title.

Adelaide is a club that has been starved of the ultimate NBL success for almost a quarter of a century, and in that period they've only progressed to the Championship Series twice - a 2-1 series defeat to Perth in 2014, and a 3-2 defeat to Melbourne in 2018.

Vasiljevic says it can't be understated how much that desire to win for the club means to the fans.

“The one thing the fans and the ownership and everyone wants here is the passion, the heart, and the pride,” Vasiljevic said.

“You’re not only playing for the Adelaide 36ers, but you’re playing for the entire city of Adelaide and its people.

“When I came in that’s the first thing I did, I wanted to  bring that championship calibre mindset of competing in every game regardless of the margins, and that’s one thing sponsors and corporates I’ve spoken to have raved about me, they say we’ve given them hope, and I play like my life depends on it, and I do.

“I get paid really well in this league to play for a great organisation, of course I’m going to give everything I can to the city.

“It’s a basketball city. There’s no interference with the cricket, NRL, AFL, netball, or anything. We were between last and seventh and we were selling out our stadium for eight straight games, imagine how it will be if we’re in the top two or top four?

“The demand will be through the roof for the ownership and for front office and the fans will want a bigger stadium."