36ers’ finals hopes extinguished
REGRETS? CJ Bruton has had a few in an NBL season that Adelaide entered amidst much fanfare but is set to end with his talent-laden 36ers outfit missing the playoffs.
Adelaide was brave against a red-hot Melbourne United, but Saturday night’s seven-point loss was a knockout blow to the side’s finals chances.
Bruton, however, was philosophical about the season.
“In our lifetime we don’t get to go back and re-do,” he said. “We get to learn from our mistakes, we get to come together, build, and look for how we are going to improve when we get a chance.”
Team chemistry has never quite come together for Bruton, even after talentedbut-volatile import Craig Randall II was released after six games, replaced by star recruit Ian Clark.
A good run of home wins in December aside, the talented line-up hasn’t clicked often enough, with Bruton forced to make adjustments on the fly, the coach admitting after a loss to Brisbane that his team had “been Jekyll and Hyde all season”.
With games against Cairns (away), Sydney (home) and United (away) to come, the 11-14 Sixers can only hope to salvage some pride.
“We’ve got to keep pushing forward and keep battling,” Bruton said.
“Our guys are battling … you won’t see them quit … When you play elite sport that’s what you’re supposed to do … show your fight.”
At the other end of the spectrum, United is charging to the playoffs, Dean Vickerman’s side shaking off a 5-10 start to the season to go 9-2 over the past 11 games.
“At 5-10 we were in a big hole, and it took everybody to just change our mindset a little bit,” Vickerman said.
“Everybody kind of pepped up a little bit and we started to be more aggressive and understand that I want them to shoot the ball more and I want them to play a bit freer. That was the biggest change.”