The road back runs deep: Adelaide’s rise revisited

For the best part of two decades, the Adelaide 36ers have been struggling to regain their NBL identity, which was forged during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

During this period, led by coach Phil Smyth and captain Brett Maher, the 36ers won three championships (1998, 1999 and 2002) in the space of five seasons.

They were one of, if not, the benchmarks of the competition during that era.

But since then, it’s been a hard slog.

Since the 2006-2007 season, Adelaide has missed the Playoffs on 14 occasions and only reached the Championship Series on two occasions (losing both times).

And after falling one win short of the final four last season, the club decided to go all in to end their 24-year championship drought.

But before this off-season, which was arguably their biggest in franchise history, moves were made to lay the foundations of this year’s incredible team.

>> Finals schedule, tickets & how to watch

The first piece to fall into place was Isaac Humphries.

The big man, who played with the 36ers in NBL21 and NBL22, returned to the club ahead of the 2023-24 season following a one-year stint with Melbourne United.

That same off-season, rising star and South Australian product Keanu Rasmussen joined the club.

Then, after a few games into the NBL24 season, two-time champion Dejan Vasiljevic signed with the club.

“My focus is on helping Adelaide win, and I can’t wait to put on the 36ers singlet,” Vasiljevic said after signing with the 36ers.

With this trio, as well as the likes of Trey Kell III, Jacob Wiley, Trentyn Flowers, Mich McCarron, Nick Marshall, Jason Cadee, Sunday Dech, Kyrin Galloway, Tohi Smith-Milner, Alex Starling and Jacob Rigoni, the side, which started with CJ Bruton and finished with Scott Ninnis as coach, finished second last.

The next season, only Humphries, Vasiljevic, Cadee, Dech, Rasmussen, Starling and Rigoni remained, while Ninnis remained at the helm.

But before the season even tipped off, Ninnis was moved on, and then assistant coach Mike Wells was promoted to full-time head coach.

Despite having this core, and import trio including Montrezl Harrell, Jarell Martin and Kendric Davis, the Sixers started the NBL25 campaign slowly, losing to Sydney and Cairns in their first two games.

But Wells’ side started to gain momentum, winning four of their next five and at the half-time mark of the season, sat in sixth spot on the ladder.

Despite some inconsistent form in the back half of the campaign, the Sixers qualified for the Play-In Qualifier, where they were matched up against Sydney at Qudos Bank Arena, marking the first and only post-season matchup of the two Hungry Jack’s NBL26 Championship Series opponents.

With too much size, they defeated Sydney by seven, booking them a spot in the Play-In Game against South East Melbourne.

Despite the game being played at John Cain Arena, the 36ers jumped out to a 45-26 lead at half-time, meaning they had one foot in the Playoffs.

But an almighty second-half collapse by the 36ers, where they were outscored by 29 in the second 20 minutes, saw them dramatically eliminated from the NBL26 title race.

While the 36ers were heading in the right direction with their team, there was a sense that a few tweaks still had to be made.

One change the Sixers didn’t want to make was retaining All-NBL First Team guard Kendric Davis.

As reported by CODE Sports, 36ers General Manager of Basketball Operations Matte Weston flew to China, where Davis was playing in the off-season, to discuss a new deal, understood to be worth more than $1 million per season over three years.

Weston left that meeting “confident Kendric was going to sign”. That was until Davis blew up over text, prompting the Sixers’ brainstrust to withdraw their offer, before Davis eventually signed with Sydney.

But the team from the City of Churches quickly pivoted to arguably the biggest free agency move in NBL history, signing then five-time MVP Bryce Cotton after nine seasons in Perth.

That was the move to prove that the 36ers meant business, not just in NBL26 but moving forward.

This historic pickup followed the shrewd signing of Tall Blacks international Flynn Cameron from Melbourne, before imports Harrell and Zylan Cheatham put pen-to-paper with the club.

All of a sudden, the pieces, including South Australians Isaac White, Michael Harris and Ben Griscti (who signed ahead of NBL25), were starting to come together, and there was a sense that something big was happening in South Australia.

Matt Kenyon, Che Brogan, Deng and Magok Manyang all joined the 36ers too, while the likes of Harrell, Dech, Cadee, Lat Mayen, Marshall, Starling and Rigoni left the club.

Then, on the eve of the season, more turmoil came the Sixers way, with the club being forced to terminate Harrell's contract after he was served a provisional ban for a positive drug test, while Griscti suffered a season-long neck injury at the CODE Sports NBL Blitz in Canberra.

This led to Nick Rakocevic signing with the club as an import, but Adelaide still had one marquee spot up their sleeve, as Cotton was granted his Australian citizenship.

Wells’ side ultimately used that spot on Troy Brown Jr, who signed in mid-November.

On the court, unlike last season, the Sixers shot out of the blocks, winning five of their first six games, with the only loss coming at the hands of Sydney in Kendric Davis’ return to Adelaide.

Not only were the results changing on the court but the culture off it, with Vasiljevic, who was adjusting to his new role off the bench, openly saying it’s all about ‘team first’ in Adelaide.

"I just want to win. I came here [to Adelaide] wanting to change a culture, and when Isaac [Humphries] and I signed long-term deals, we went and recruited great players to join us," he said.

"End of the day, your career matters on how many championships you've got.

"Obviously, I've won two in Sydney, but I've turned a new leaf in my chapter where I want to stay here and see if I can retire and hopefully win not just one championship, I want to try to bring multiple here.

"I'm all about winning, and hopefully I can help the team achieve that."

That strong play and culture continued to build as the season progressed, with the Sixers sitting on top of the ladder from Rounds 11 to 20, before Sydney pipped them at the post in the final two rounds.

During all this, Brown Jr departed the club and former NBA sharpshooter John Jenkins, who, like Cotton, had worked with Wells previously, landed in Adelaide.

Still, behind season MVP Cotton, who now has six to his name, All-NBL Second Team player Cheatham and Most Improved award winner Cameron, the Sixers finished with just their second 23-win season in franchise history, with the 1986 side going 26-2.

This ultimately saw them pitted against South East Melbourne in the Playoffs, who they edged out in three games, behind the heroics of Cotton, to qualify for their first Championship series since the 2017-18 season.

“It [reaching the Championship Series] is a huge deal for the staff, for the management, the coaches and for the Adelaide fans and community [at large],” Rakocevic told NBL Media.

“Them supporting us this whole season means a lot to us, and we don't take it for granted.

“Having that home court advantage absolutely helps. It's a difference-maker.

“Just to be a part of this [with everyone], so far has been incredible. It's a blessing, but you know we're not finished.

“[We’ve been] through all the ups and downs of the season together and owe it to one another to try and get our hands on that hardware.

“Everyone wants to be a part of a winning team, and to do it with a group like this would be a truly amazing experience, because there are only so many times in your life where you can say you were part of a championship-winning team that did something special.

“No one person is bigger than the team, and achieving something like that gives everyone a connection for life, and no one can take that away from you.”

Now the 36ers are just three wins away from securing the club's fourth NBL championship.

The highly anticipated NBL26 Championships Series tips off at Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday at 7pm AEDT, live on ESPN and 10 Drama.