Wells credits changing culture for winning the 'unwinnable'

Even when Adelaide was down by 21 points in the third quarter, Mike Wells never questioned their commitment.

The 36ers coach piled praise on his players after one of the most incredible comebacks in recent history, with a one-point win taking them to the top of the NBL standings.

“I thought we were unwavering in our commitment to try to win and our ability to compete and try to do the right things, as hard as it was out there,” Wells said post-game.

“I couldn't be more proud of the way we found threes late. It started with Troy Brown Jr. DJ (Vasiljevic) had a huge one.

“We took the timeout with 10-something to go. I was debating on what to run. Bryce made a three over JLA (Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.) that I, even from my angle, couldn't see the rim. And that one went in.”

Adelaide hit four final-quarter threes, outscoring Perth 35-16 to record one of its most famous wins in recent memory.

“Once you get down like that and you're trying to just find ways to get the momentum and flip the momentum, and you know we kind of changed some different lineups. You know you’ve got to play faster and then you know you need to see the ball go through the hoop a little bit. It's a time-and-score kind of thing.

“I kept saying maybe even starting in the third quarter, because it was such a slow game, that ‘we’ve got to play faster’. You know, it's like ‘hurry up’ type stuff. And then at some point you've got to make some threes and you got to make some plays and you got to get a little lucky. And I think all of those things happened.”

Wells said it was Adelaide’s best win of the season, paying tribute to his group for their performance across the opening 11 rounds.

“We're building everything from scratch,” he said.

“There's been no winning culture with the 36ers since I don't even know when. So for us to put a new team together basically from scratch, we had a chance to redo it.

“Everything we're creating is in real time and it's just been a really special group that way.”

Asked if he was pleased with claiming the top spot on the ladder, Wells said he had bigger goals.

“I only want it at the end to be honest with you,” he added.

“I love where we're at. I love what this group has done, because I think it's important for us to learn how to win.

“We're building in real time. That's what we have to do.

“I want to be in a position to win an elimination game by game 27. I think we're building to that point.

“I'm not worried about the ladder right now. Although I'd rather be at the top than at the bottom.”