NBL26 Report Card: A season of near misses for 36ers

As the Free Agency period tips off, NBL Media is putting the microscope on every club's NBL26 campaign.

Pete Hooley analyses every team, starting with the tenth-placed Bullets, all the way through to the Championship-winning Kings.

What the ladder says

3rd place - 22 wins, 11 losses

Four word summary

Little more spin, Bryce

Report Card

Grade: A

Sports are brutal for many reasons, but when you consider that the 36ers finish the season with nothing to show for how close they came to being champions, it’s a tough pill to swallow.

Nothing ever comes down to the last shot, but if either Bryce Cotton adds a bit more spin on his game-winning layup attempt or the 36ers manage to secure a defensive rebound, they would be champions.

Reflecting on the whole season for Adelaide and for a team that was vocal about building a championship contender, the 36ers did well to rise above some adversity down the stretch. In the first.

15 rounds, the 36ers were sitting on top with 19 wins from 23 games and looked to be the team to beat in the Playoffs. In their remaining 10 games, including the Ignite Cup Final, the 36ers lost six, including two big defeats at the hand of the Phoenix.

With many questioning their identity and what happened to a team that was playing so well prior, the 36ers answered in emphatic fashion during the post-season, led by their six-time MVP.

Season highlight

The Adelaide Entertainment Centre has been packed for a few years now and when the 36ers give them a reason to reach their full voice, it’s one of the most deafening sports atmospheres in Australia.

So, when the team reached the Championship Series for the first time since 2018, their Game 2 was special for many reasons.

In the end, a Bryce Cotton game-winning layup was enough to even the series and send the sold-out crowd into a frenzy and giving everyone another incredible highlight.

When you remember all the theatre around this series and what transpired between Cotton and Kendric Davis after that game, it was the perfect ending to a game for 36ers fans.

Season lowlight

As the 36ers limped towards the end of the regular season, they still had one big game to play before the break as they ventured to the Gold Coast with $300,000 prize money on the line for the Ignite Cup.

Adelaide went into the game against New Zealand as favourites, understandably considering the ladder position of both teams, but ultimately fell short on the big stage.

Not only did the loss sting, it was more pain for the 36ers to sit with during the break as they continued to struggle on the defensive end.

Stats don’t lie

They say the best ability of any player is availability and the numbers behind this for Adelaide were incredible in NBL26.

The 36ers Head of Health and Performance, Tristan Chai, revealed post-season that they delivered a 99.13 per cent availability rate of their players.

When you consider that the 36ers played more games than any other team (42), with an Ignite Cup Final and two Playoff Series that went the distance, it’s even more remarkable.

You need an element of luck to win a championship, but you also need to have your players be able to be on the court at every opportunity, and it’s a testament to everyone involved to achieve this.

The 36ers only missed two games through suspension, one through sickness and one through load management the entire season.

MVP

Who else could it really be? Every time we think we have seen the best of Bryce Cotton, he shows that he has more surprises left and his sixth MVP season may have just been his most dominant.

When Cotton joined the 36ers in the off-season, no one really knew what we would see for the first time he wore a different jersey and played in a different system.

Those concerns were quickly eased, as Cotton averaged over 27 points and seven assists in the first 10 rounds, being efficiently dominant at every opportunity.

Cotton once again made scoring look effortless, as he went over 40 points four times, including a 53-point night in Cairns.

Surprise packet

It’s not a surprise but seeing Flynn Cameron get more opportunity seemed overdue and the young star delivered in a big way for NBL26.

The NBL’s Most Improved Player more than doubled his output from his previous season at United and became an important part of Adelaide’s offence.

We had seen it in glimpses over his first two seasons, but to see the 25-year-old step up in his new role and thrive in the Adelaide system was a pleasant sight.

What's next?

Heading into NBL27, Mike Wells has the majority of his core returning, with six-time MVP Bryce Cotton, Zylan Cheatham, Isaac Humphries, Nick Rakocevic, Isaac White and Ben Griscti all locked in.

While Dejan Vasiljevic has parted ways with the club, the team from the City of Churches acted quickly and signed defensive wing Bul Kuol to a multi-year deal.

With the club also linked to NBL26 champion Torrey Craig, the 36ers appear set up for another deep Finals run next season.