Sobey seizes chance to steer Adelaide

NATHAN Sobey has seized his opportunity with both hands and looms as the wildcard for the Adelaide 36ers against Cairns Taipans in their NBL showdown on Brett Maher Court.

Sobey, 26, and a fearless 190cm combo guard, had to step up last week when Sixers captain Mitch Creek (foot) bowed out versus Melbourne.

After a less-than-stellar first half, Sobey was breathtaking in a 62-second stand before the three-quarter-time break, sinking a three-pointer, completing a three-point play and throwing down a huge dunk.

He also copped a flopping technical but the crowd responded to his relentless energy, passion and enthusiasm.

The second of his two lastquarter triples brought Adelaide back to 87-92, before United was able to capitalise on a few wayward late plays by his teammates.

In a blink under 16 minutes of action, he scored 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting, with 3-of-4 threes, two rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Starting in Brisbane on Sunday against the Bullets, he played 30:20 for a career-high 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting, 3-of-5 triples, three rebounds, six assists and a steal.

“I just put it down to having the opportunity to play longer minutes,” Sobey said.

“It can be tough to find the rhythm of the game when it’s a couple of minutes here and a couple there. But being able to play helped me a lot.”

Warrnambool-born Sobey debuted as a roster player last season with the 36ers after starting his NBL journey as a development player the previous season under Aaron Fearne at Cairns. His most memorable moment was either a chase down block of a fast-break shot attempt by former United import Stephen Holt during which he leapt over teammate Brendan Teys.

Or a disallowed mammoth dunk against Townsville.

Sobey said he had nothing in particular to prove against Cairns, which has found a fairly similar player to him in Mitch McCarron.