Eight years in the making: Humphries ready for Playoffs stage

He may be a seven-year NBL veteran and the Adelaide 36ers' longest serving current player, but Isaac Humphries is still waiting to make his Playoffs debut.

That will all change on Tuesday, March 10, when the Sixers host the winner of South East Melbourne and Perth’s Seeding Qualifier.

Despite only having two Finals games from last year’s Play-In Series to his name, Humphries believes his teammates’ post-season experience puts the squad in good shape.

“I've never played in a Playoff Series before,” Humphries said during Tuesday’s club media availability.

“I've played a lot of basketball everywhere, so that's wild to me, but someone like Bryce [Cotton] having that much experience in that field and a few other guys on the team who have experienced it as well, obviously, will come in handy.

“But that's all just such nitpicky stuff, it really is who's going to show up and play.”

That upcoming fixture will also mark the club’s first home post-season match in eight years, which Humphries knows the 36ers faithful are excited about.

“We haven't had a Playoff game at home for a very long time, and I've played here for a very long time, and I haven't experienced it,” he said

“It'll be a first for me, but I know exactly how the [Adelaide] Entertainment Centre can get and how loud it can get when we're doing well or when we need a bit of a boost, so I only imagine it'll be pretty special in there that night.

“We're always about our fans being our sixth man, so I think that would just bring the juice.

“We always want to put on a good show and give them a win, because they support us so much.”

In terms of the fixture itself, Humphries is confident his Sixers, who produced the club’s best regular-season win-loss record since 1986, can claim victory against whoever they're matched up with.

“I’ve never been a bracket guy,” he said.

“We’ve played them [South East Melbourne and Perth] a fair bit throughout the year, so whoever it's going to be, it will be a battle.

“It'll be a fun experience, and we'll just see what happens.”

The NBL26 Finals tip off on Wednesday, March 4, with the Seeding Qualifier between South East Melbourne and Perth at John Cain Arena from 7.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.