Wells lauds Hawks’ stars

Adelaide coach Mike Wells has piled praise on Sunday’s opponents, Illawarra, labelling them an “outstanding team” and calling out the dominance of Will Hickey and JaVale McGee.

The reigning Champions haven’t had it all their own way this year, particularly in a big loss on Friday night against New Zealand, but Wells said he had huge respect for Justin Tatum and his team.

“I don’t think their record’s indicative of who they are,” he said on Friday.

“They’re a championship-calibre team. They’ve got Championship blood running through them.”

Wells had special praise for Hickey and the incredible role he played in the Hawks’ Championship run, as he prepares for just his second game of the season returning from an eye issue.

“Davo is the heart and soul of that thing last year. To me, his will to win a Championship exceeded everybody else’s,” he said.

“I thought it just came through the television in my house, that guy refused to lose. So you have the ultimate respect for him as a player and as a person.

“He’ll bring that with him. If he’s coming back, he’ll be ready to play like that.”

That respect is just as high for MVP candidate JaVale McGee.

“I think he’s such a dominant force. His usage rate is number one in the NBL right now by a large margin. He’s the guy that sort of operates and leads that team right now,” Wells continued.

“Then obviously you’ve got Tyler Harvey and now Hickey and some of these other guys coming back. But how we guard him, how we’re able to just be around him (McGee) and try to influence him into certain types of shots without fouling him, is key.

“One of the things on Sunday (against Melbourne) that was a big deal for us was our fouls with our bigs. Our ability to function as a team, as with every team in this league, fouls are always going to be a part of the game. We’d like to defend him, guard him, and put him in a crowd and all those things that coaches talk about, but ultimately, try not to foul.”

Wells previously worked with McGee in the NBA, and knows just how brilliant he can be.

“JaVale’s an unbelievable player. I was with him with the Washington Wizards way back like 14 plus years ago when he was a young player,” he added.

“He’s got great length, great athleticism. He’s played for a long time. He’s a presence in the paint on both sides of the ball. Our ability to kind of recognise him and figure out the scoring angles and the passing angles is going to be key in this game, as it is with everybody that plays against JaVale.”

One player key to the 36ers’ hopes on Sunday, Zylan Cheatham.

The star import was in fine form against Melbourne, just missing a triple-double.

“I think we’re just starting to scratch the surface with him,” Wells said.

“We keep talking about different things we’re working on in practice and how this team functions around Bryce, Ice, now Zylan, and DJ.

“Each game presents different challenges depending on how teams guard certain situations. Obviously, Zylan can do a lot of different things. I thought it was really positive that he got into such a rhythm on offence for us and was able not only to score, but those assists and things like that were huge. We want that kind of production.

“The game will dictate how it looks, it won’t be like that exactly every game. But our ability to connect, figure out what the game is giving us, and then capitalise on that is going to be key.”

Adelaide takes on Illawarra on Sunday at 4.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN and 10 Drama.