Giddey: 'NBL Getting Bigger'

Saturday, October 8, 2022

Although Josh Giddey has become one of the hottest young talents in the basketball world, he hasn’t forgotten his roots.

Now turning out for the Oklahoma City Thunder, it was a bittersweet experience for the 19-year-old to come up against his former Adelaide 36ers side, who unfortunately couldn’t repeat their heroics from the clash against Phoenix.

While he was at the 36ers, COVID restricted any NBLxNBA games from happening. Now though, Giddey says he’s happy to finally be involved in one.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">GG, JG<br><br>Our favourite big NBL advocate, <a href="https://twitter.com/joshgiddey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@joshgiddey</a> chatted post-game about the <a href="https://twitter.com/okcthunder?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@okcthunder</a>'s big win over his former <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Adelaide36ers</a>' squad ? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLxNBA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLxNBA</a> <a href="https://t.co/Mm245dyJpz">pic.twitter.com/Mm245dyJpz</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1578214995602853889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“I was really excited,” Giddey said. “I always used to watch these games and I wish I could have come over when I was in the NBL, but obviously with Covid and everything it wasn’t possible.

“I was praying this year I’d be able to play against an NBL team, and for it to be my team was that extra little bit special.

“I was super-excited. It’s great for Australian basketball to be put on a world stage, and for them to beat Phoenix and create history for Australian basketball – I’m super happy for them.

“I’m a big NBL advocate, and this is only going to get bigger in Australia.”

One marked difference between how the Thunder and the Suns defended Adelaide was the intent with which OKC closed out the 36ers stars on the three-point line.

Craig Randall II still managed to finish the game with 27 points, but Adelaide as a whole couldn’t heat up to the extent they did on Monday.

Giddey says that defensive intensity on the three-point line was part of the game plan.

“We knew not to take these guys lightly after what they did to Phoenix, and we knew it was going to be a challenge for us,” he said.

“We understand they have hot shooters so just closing out, making them go to their second option which is putting the ball on the floor.

“I think we did a really good job executing that … we came out with the right mentality, threw the first punch and from then set the tone for the rest of the game."