Round 1 Preview v Perth Wildcats

The Adelaide 36ers won the first ever game at RAC Arena and now for the start of the new era under CJ Bruton, the Sixers will be aiming to repeat the dose on Friday night on the opening night of the 2021/22 NBL season.

It's the start of a new era for the Adelaide 36ers and after a bright start at the NBL Blitz where they went through undefeated, the #NBL22 season proper begins this Friday night against old rivals the Wildcats at RAC Arena.

Not only do the Sixers have a new coach with the legendary CJ Bruton taking over the helm on the back of his 516-game, six-time championship winning playing career, but there are plenty of new faces in the Adelaide line-up too.

Three of those, Manny Malou, Hyrum Harris and Kai Sotto, won't be suiting up on Friday night unfortunately along with defensive maestro Sunday Dech with a corked quad, but there is plenty of other new and exciting talent for the Sixers faithful to look forward to seeing in action.

They will be thrown right into the cauldron too with an expected 13,000-plus packed RAC Arena in Perth to greet them, but there's every reason to suggest they will up for the challenge.

Starting with the imports, Dusty Hannahs and Todd Withers arrive with impressive credentials for their debut NBL seasons, and based on what we saw for them from the Blitz, big things should be expected.

Hannahs has already been labelled one of the best shooters his teammate Daniel Johnson has seen and assistant coach Jamie Pearlman said he's the best shooter he has ever rebounded for. And he showed that at the Blitz including a game-winning fourth quarter 13-point run against the Wildcats.

Withers warmed into the Blitz nicely too and showed that he is a good size with athleticism and can defend and rebound strongly, but he can also throw it down in traffic and hit the outside shot.

There are plenty more new faces in the 36ers squad too including Tad Dufelmeier and Mojave King who have made the move from Cairns in the off-season. They will both be key members of the Adelaide back court and are capable of big things.

Cam Bairstow is someone who arrives in Adelaide having played in the NBA and for the Boomers at the Olympic Games to add impressive depth to the front court, and then there is new captain Mitch McCarron.

Fresh off leading Melbourne United to the championship, he has joined Adelaide this season, has been appointed captain and is fresh off winning the Ray Borner Medal as MVP at the NBL Blitz.

While there is still Dech, Sotto, Malou and Harris to come into the team after Friday night's clash in Perth, it's quite the squad to be impressed by for Adelaide and even six-time MVP Daniel Johnson likes the team he has around him.

"I think we are pretty deep this year and we've got a lot of different guys who are going to come in and give an impact," Johnson said while appearing on latest Sixers Fix with Scott Ninnis.

"First our imports, Dusty is one of the best shooters I've played with and he's definitely going to have those nights where he goes crazy and drops 40. Todd is an elite defender and I think he'll be in the running for the Defensive Player of the Year. Those guys are going to be pretty special to watch out there. 

"I've been really impressed with Tad Dufelmeier too. He hasn’t done a lot in the pre-season but I think he's going to do a lot more than people expect. He gives us good punch coming off the bench in running that back up point position. There's a lot of things to be excited about."

What awaits the 36ers on Friday night is a Wildcats team fresh off another Grand Final appearance last season and who have appeared in the past 35 consecutive playoff series, but they have a decidedly new look too.

For the first time in almost a decade, the 'Cats have a new coach with Scott Morrison replacing Trevor Gleeson while Vic Law, Michael Frazier and former 36ers pair Jack Purchase and Matt Hodgson are among their new faces.

They will also not be at full strength on Friday night with championship winning pair Mitch Norton and Todd Blanchfield, but they do still have Bryce Cotton alongside rising star Luke Travers and six-time champion Jesse Wagstaff along with ex-Adelaide captain Kevin White.

While the 36ers did beat the Wildcats twice at the Blitz in Tasmania coming into the season, Johnson is fully aware it's a totally different beast now at RAC Arena in the season proper on Friday night.

"We've just talked about really controlling what we can control. Those first few Blitz games we had over 20 turnovers in both of them so it's about looking after the ball," Johnson said. 

"Perth historically have been a great rebounding team so it's about keeping them off the glass. We don’t really know where we're at with the Blitz games and a lot of teams didn’t play their full squads, but after playing Perth in Perth for the first game we'll certainly find out more about where we're at."

Johnson has always enjoyed getting back to Perth to play in his hometown. He has created a life for himself now in Adelaide and as a six-time MVP is a great of the 36ers, but he always has lifted for the challenge of playing back against the Wildcats.

So much so, Johnson has scored more points inside RAC Arena than any other opposition player with 266 points in 17 appearances, but all he cares about on Friday is a fifth win in the building.

"Perth's always a great atmosphere to come into and get a win and walk out of, and kind of silence the crowd. Guys either love playing in front of packed out vocal fans or they don’t, and I personally love it," Johnson told Sixers Fix with Scott Ninnis.

"Having my family there and friends and stuff make it a good atmosphere to play in front of, and if we could play there every week I'd want to. 

"It's just exciting to be here and we'll be in the deep end from day dot, and we'll know where we're at. I'm excited for the group. We haven’t really hit a massive challenge yet so this will be it and it will be interesting to find out where we're at."

As for the new coach CJ Bruton, it's perhaps fitting that his life as a head coach begins in Perth. He played the last game of his remarkable career celebrating his sixth championship when he helped lead the New Zealand Breakers to the 2014 championship.

Now he coaches his first game at RAC Arena and already Johnson couldn’t be happier to have him as his head coach.

"He's been good and he hasn’t had to come in and yell and scream much at all. He very much just says it how it is, and tells you to get out there and do it," Johnson said.

"I've had some screaming coaches before and sometimes that works, and I'm sure he can give you a spray when he needs to, but hopefully we can keep winning and he doesn’t have. But I've really enjoyed having him as coach already and he has a really smart basketball brain. 

"He knows the X's and O's and he has all these bright ideas, and it takes all us players a bit longer to figure it out and execute it, but he's been doing a really good job of being patient with us and letting us learn it in our own time."

HUNGRY JACK'S 2021/22 NBL SEASON – ROUND 1

ADELAIDE 36ERS v PERTH WILDCATS
RAC Arena, Friday 9.00pm ACDT

Broadcast – ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sport NZ