“Heart and soul”: Cotton reveals real MVP in 11–3 start

Heading into the FIBA Break, the biggest factor in the Adelaide 36ers' strong 11-3 start to the Hungry Jack's NBL26 season is Bryce Cotton.

The five-time MVP is leading the league with 27.1 points a game, while posting career-high marks in assists (7) and steals (2.3).

But the three-time champion, in a recent interview with Channel 10, was quick to credit one of his superstar teammates, calling them the "heart and soul of our team", while comparing him to an NBA All Star.

"He [Zylan Cheatham] is the heart and soul of our team," Cotton said via Channel 10.

"We feed off his energy almost like our Adelaide's Draymond Green, but can put the ball in the hole a whole lot more."

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This FIBA Break gives Cotton and his 36ers 13 days between matches, allowing the team a chance to assess what areas worked well and what areas they need to improve on heading into the second phase of the season.

“When you come out of FIBA Break, you can go one of two ways,” Cotton said.

“Teams might have a little bit of rust, or they don't look like they're quite as sharp, and then you'll have other teams that come out looking like they haven't missed a beat.

“Everybody [on our team] is starting to get comfortable, and we're figuring out basically how we can bring what we need to bring to the table without stepping on each other's toes.

“I think there was a lot of that early on. Everybody was kind of holding themselves back a little because they weren't sure how much of themselves they could be, but I think we're starting to get into that groove.

”We understand that the season is long, even though it goes by quickly, and things can change in any second, so no matter how good things are, you never want to get complacent.”

The 36ers next host Brisbane at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre from 7.30pm AEDT on Thursday, December 4, live on ESPN.