The Coach Reflects – Round 2

It was a second straight eventful couple of games to start Conner Henry's time as Adelaide 36ers coach in Round 2 but he liked a lot of what he was starting to see in the win over the New Zealand Breakers ahead of a rematch with them on Wednesday.

Henry's time as coach of the 36ers got off to a rocky start in Round 1 with a 24-point loss to Melbourne United, but as bad as that second half was, there was still positives to take out of it given they were leading against a quality team up until midway through the third quarter.

Two days later and it took until the end of two overtime periods, but the Sixers got their first win of 2021 against the South East Melbourne Phoenix much to the relief of the new coach.

There wasn’t long to celebrate, though, with a rematch on Wednesday against the Phoenix and without Josh Giddey in the line-up for the 36ers, it proved a tough night with South East Melbourne coming away with the 89-83 win despite the efforts of frontcourt duo Isaac Humphries and Daniel Johnson.

Again there wasn’t much time to focus on that result either with a short turnaround to another game at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Friday night, this time against the New Zealand Breakers.

And in the end with Isaac Humphries dominant with 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks, Donald Sloan 20 points, Daniel Johnson 16, Tony Crocker 11 and Sunday Dech 10, the 36ers prevailed to win 94-91 in overtime and sit at 2-2 after two rounds.

That's a lot for coach Henry to dissect after two rounds and four games of basketball in Adelaide, and now he is expecting his team to have to play even better to get another win over the Breakers back at the Entertainment Centre this Wednesday night.

"It's kind of like a mini playoff series. I'd prefer if it was just a regular non-COVID year and we were just turning the opponents over and having a number of days to prepare, but this is where we're at," Henry said. 

"We'll make as many adjustments as we possibly can but we know that they will play harder and stronger. They basically haven’t played so we have to rest up and we just have to get better ourselves.

"Whoever we play, most of it is about us and how we want to play, and share the ball and understand the system. We'll make some adjustments, so will they and hopefully we can get another one."

Humphries stands tall as 36ers beat Breakers in OT 

Frontcourt fires but not enough for 36ers v Phoenix 

The Coach Reflects – Round 1 

Coming off the loss to the Phoenix on Wednesday, Henry mixed up his starting five for the 36ers on Friday against the Breakers with Giddey returning and making his first start while Humphries also got the nod in the starting group ahead of Keanu Pinder.

Pinder had been picking up early fouls limiting his ability to have an impact so coming in off the bench helped him and he had five rebounds and three steals in the 20 minutes he still played while Sloan was a spark off the bench too delivering a season-high 20 points.

There was good sense behind the moves and Henry was happy with how they played out.

"We decided to go that way and I had a good chat with Donald about it, and he was all for it. I thought it might be a good move to let him see the flow of it and let Josh get going early with the pace that we like," he said.

"We can then bring Donald in and have him in a bit more of a scoring role in general while still running the club, but giving him a little bit more freedom. He got it going a little bit and hit a couple of really big shots, and it freed him up some which was good."

Henry was fully aware that Sloan hadn’t quite delivered what he hoped over the first three games, but given his experience as a cool, calm and collected performer at a consistent level for a decade in the G-League, the NBA and China, he did back him to settle in the NBL before long.

The signs were exciting on Friday night as he gained in confidence on his way to the 20 points while knocking down 4/7 from three-point range and 6/6 from the foul line.

"The funny thing is that Donald doesn’t really feel pressure. He has been in a lot of big scenarios in his life playing big games," Henry said. 

"That's not to say he doesn’t understand the seriousness of being here and how important it is not only to him but all of us.

"It's our job to get him going and continue to get comfortable in the system, and to be a vital member of this team. I was pleased with his play and I'm glad he got a little bit of the monkey off his back to say the least, and it was good."

While Giddey was who everyone was talking about following the double overtime win against the Phoenix, it was Humphries the talk of Adelaide after Friday night on the back of what he delivered at both ends.

He was near unstoppable in the block offensively scoring 24 points on 11/15 shooting and he did pull in 11 rebounds, but it was defensively where he was a shot intimidator to the extreme.

He ended up receiving the credit for seven blocks and his presence in the paint under the basket was as instrumental as anything in the eventual result.

None of it came as a surprise to his coach though.

"We needed a big body and when his name came up I jumped at the chance. I've known his game for a couple of years now and I've seen his growth, and I knew he could be that physical presence inside for us to score and rebound the basketball," Henry said. 

"The blocked shots are coming and his timing is really good whether it's against a small or a big. He is staying down long enough and being able to measure it up, and then go and get it.

"He's a huge plus for us and we have to have rim protection, and we have to play a physical brand and style of basketball. He brings that."

With his frontcourt rotation of Johnson, Humphries and Pinder while Crocker and Jack McVeigh share the three spot, and then Giddey, Sloan and Dech are his main guards, Henry is backing that group to settle nicely into a groove as the season continues to unfold.

At the same time, Brendan Teys, Daniel Dillon, Alex Mudronja and Owen Hulland will all have important roles to play at times so all up, Henry is happy with the group and that everyone is now beginning to find their roles.

"I think we go with eight or nine guys in the rotation and the other guys are great teammates who are starting to understand their roles so they'll be ready," Henry said.

"We'll play that eight or nine guys still and we'll mix up the starting line-ups at times based on match ups, but we like Josh in that early part of the game to set the pace. 

"In that second stint Josh came back and didn’t quite have his pace or legs underneath him so we have to continue to grow with him in those spurts so he can play solid minutes, and come back in ever after sitting a while. 

"That mental part of the game is when you've been sitting for a while and being ready as a pro when the coach calls you whether it's quick or later in the game. 

"You have to balance off whatever fatigue or rust you have and then ramp it up and play at a high level. We'll grow with him during those times and it was great mixing up the line-up and getting the win."