"We’re evolving": How John Jenkins is changing Adelaide

Any doubts about the Adelaide 36ers’ and Sydney Kings’ late-season import calls were silenced on Sunday afternoon, thanks to John Jenkins and Torrey Craig.

The pair were among the most dominant players on the floor in a close-fought clash at Qudos Bank Arena, alongside Kendric Davis.

For Jenkins, the wins haven’t followed just yet in Adelaide. He’s one from three since arriving, but there are clear signs the pieces are starting to fall into place.

“We’re evolving now in the last eight games of the year, because of John Jenkins,” 36ers coach Mike Wells said, piling praise on the 34-year-old.

Jenkins’ shooting has already come to the fore, hitting 5-of-11 on Sunday and 6-of-11 from three point range on Friday, barely a fortnight after arriving from Romania.

“Super-super positive,” Wells said.

“John’s basically from Romania, to Perth, to Adelaide, to Auckland and now to Sydney and he goes 20 (points), 6 (rebounds) and 5 (assists).

“There’s a lot of really, really good things there that we’ll be able to drill into and sort of still sync up.

“You can see at times he’s not really quite sure what we’re in on both sides of the ball … he’s looking over at me with the wide-eyed look and I’m like ‘uh, oh’.

“There’s a lot of things we’re still trying to cover with him on the fly, but there’s a lot of really good things there.”

Jenkins boasts close to 180 games of NBA experience and has played in ten countries across a career spanning 14 years.

Wells says his experience will be invaluable leading into the Finals, with Adelaide already boosting its shooting clip from beyond the arc since he arrive.

But the 36ers, who currently have a 20–7 record, will need to get back to their best as a unit soon. They’ve dropped three of their last four games, with the Phoenix closing the gap fast.

“We’ve been the best percentage shooting team in the league this year, but we’ve also been the lowest amount of attempts and that’s a bad math equation,” Wells added.

“The 17 of 34 from three (against Sydney) is good, the 17 of 35 from two is bad and that’s not a great formula for winning.”