Preview - Adelaide vs Perth - Round 13, NBL24

Thursday, December 28 at 7:30pm AEDT | Adelaide Entertainment Centre

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Former Adelaide championship teammates Scott Ninnis and John Rillie will face off as head coaches for the first time in the city where they won the 1998 title together.

Hyrum Harris reportedly left Perth’s Boxing Day win with a calf injury, however Rillie said he was not informed of any injury issue during or after the game against Cairns.

DJ Vasiljevic praised Ninnis’ desire to hand Adelaide’s ball-handling duties to a range of players, including himself, as opposed to a traditional floor general.

Rillie was equally as complimentary of Kristian Doolittle’s defensive quality, following the import forward’s Foot Locker Player of the Game performance against the Taipans.

Adelaide
95-88 win over Brisbane
96-107 loss to Melbourne
101-116 loss to Cairns

Perth
105-102 win over Cairns
103-109 loss to Melbourne
89-88 win over Tasmania

DJ Vasiljevic
While he was at Sydney, DJ Vasiljevic was the sharpshooting second or third option on offence. Now in Adelaide, the 36ers are living or dying by his performances.

Since Scott Ninnis’ appointment as interim head coach, Vasiljevic’s role has changed even further with Adelaide. Now he’s more involved in setting up the offence and looks to have been given the licence to put up whatever shot he chooses.

A positive for Adelaide will be that they didn’t have to rely on just Vasiljevic in the win over Brisbane. He was one of a pair of Adelaide players to score over 20 points, and one of four to finish the game in double figures.

He’s also added an equal-season high six assists in each of Adelaide’s last two games.

Vasiljevic is far from the stand in the corner sharpshooter he was in Sydney, and those Olympic ambitions of his will continue to rear their head if he can maintain this output and help lead the Sixers up the ladder.

“Scottie’s given us the reins to play a bit of point guard at times and lead the team. We’re going to take full advantage of it and try to get as many wins as we can and try and make that Play-In.” – DJ Vasiljevic following the win over Brisbane.

Kristian Doolittle
A continuing theme for the Perth Wildcats during John Rillie’s tenure has been an inability to win the rebounding battle on a night-in, night-out basis, but the rise of Kristian Doolittle within the NBL landscape has switched the rhetoric around the Wildcats’ defensive deficiencies.

Doolittle starred with 17 points and 16 boards in a Foot Locker Player of the Game Performance in Perth’s Boxing Day win over Cairns, and Rillie said he needs to be a more recognised contender for the NBL’s Best Defensive Player Award, due to his crucial role in locking down the defensive end.

The thing about Doolittle is he’s not just getting rebounds and playing stingy defence, he’s become a genuine offensive threat for Perth.

He might not be as flashy as Bryce Cotton, Jordan Usher or Keanu Pinder, but if Doolittle is provided space around the rim, he’s shown an incredible ability to knock down close-range jump shots.

Doolittle has been playing and understated and underrated role for Perth this season, but it’s time for him to earn some praise.

“That bamboozles me to some degree, where we talk about all these other players around the league as Defensive Player of the Year candidates and this guy juts quietly goes about his business every night. I’m not an analytics guy but we’re moving in the right direction and he’s part of it, so it would be nice if people watched a little closer, so they realise how much impact he has at that end of the floor.” – John Rillie following the win over Cairns.

Scott Ninnis vs John Rillie
A pair of championship teammates will face off from the sidelines for their first time in their respective careers, and it’s almost poetic the first meeting will come in Adelaide, given Scott Ninnis and John Rillie were part of the 36ers’ 1998 title-winning squad.

Ninnis discussed the emotion of his first win as Adelaide’s interim head coach, but the challenge is now on the 36ers to back up that strong performance against Brisbane with a victory against one of the most in-form sides in the NBL.

John Rillie.

This game will be the third game of a short and sharp three-game road trip for Perth, and John Rillie elected to turn to the likes of David Okwera and Ben Henshall in the Wildcats’ victory over Cairns despite the pair’s limited time on court this season – likely to try to keep his team fresh and ready to play.

Rillie said special relationships are formed with anyone you win a title alongside, and that’s no different between him and Ninnis, but that those emotions will need to be cast aside come game time.

Scott Ninnis.

Adelaide has lost the first half in 13 of its last 14 games. A 52-42 first half against the Bullets on Sunday finally bucked that trend though. Can the 36ers step it up again? 

Adelaide
Nil

Perth
Corey Webster – ankle (TBC)