Deng ready to step up
THE hole left by a seasonending injury to the Adelaide 36ers’ star import Josh Childress can’t be filled by one person, his likely replacement says.
Instead, Majok Deng believes all 36ers must rise to cover Childress’s absence for the rest of the NBL grand final series against Melbourne United.
Childress fractured his left shoulder during the second game of the five-match series, which Adelaide won to square the series.
In the American’s absence, Deng will be summoned for more court time in Game 3 in Melbourne tomorrow night.
“Josh’s hole in the team is pretty big. I don’t think we can replace it,” Deng said yesterday. “The only thing we can do is step up as a whole team and be contributing.”
Deng shot 18 points in 16 minutes on court in Adelaide’s win last Sunday — its first victory in six meetings with United this season.
His performance prompted Childress to label Deng, a Sudanese-born 25-year-old, as the man most likely to fill the void.
“It just shows the trust that my team and the coaching staff have in me,” Deng said.
“I go in there and just play my game pretty much, don’t think it too big. “Every time I step on the court I feel like I’m hot so I just have the same mentality every time.
“I don’t have to score a lot of points for us to win — if I can get on the loose balls, block shots, do anything the team needs.”
Deng said the 36ers were focused on a fast start against United tomorrow night, saying a lack of intensity cost Adelaide dearly when Melbourne won the series opener by 11 points.
“Game 1, we didn’t have any aggression at all,” he said.
“If we’re not happening on defence, our energy goes down. The first quarter is going to set it up. We have just got to come in ready to go.”