36ers need to "expedite" finding offensive groove

DJ Vasiljevic’s first game in Adelaide 36ers colours last night largely went to plan – for the first 15 minutes of the game at least. The former King had 14 points, Adelaide’s offence was firing, but then it all dried up.

The 36ers went almost five minutes without scoring late in the second quarter, in a run South East Melbourne head coach Mike Kelly has said was game defining.

Vasiljevic ended the game as Adelaide’s second-top scorer in the defeat with 17 points, however he recorded the lowest +/- of any player on his team at -17.

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NBL analyst Liam Santamaria says while the signs of embedding Vasiljevic into the system were there, the 36ers need to move through these growing pains as quickly as possible.

“DJ was hot early and he had those 14 points in the first quarter and a half. It got dry from there and he ended up with 17 points, but on 17 shots. He didn’t really make any of his teammates better in the process but first hitout straight off the practice floor, so that’s going to get better,” Santamaria said on NBL Now.

“It didn’t surprise me there were good signs for Adelaide but there were also some struggles. The process of bringing DJ into their team and making it work for everybody – they need to expedite because they need that to happen very quickly.

“For Adelaide it was a topsy-turvy affair. They looked good early, Dejan Vasiljevic was knocking down shots and everyone was getting excited about him coming into the mix and then it all dried up from there.”

Both Trey Kell and Jacob Wiley each put up 13 shots in the defeat, meaning the import pair and Vasiljevic accounted for 43 of Adeliade’s 71 shots against South East Melbourne.

The team also finished with just 11 assists between them for the entire game. In comparison, the victorious South East Melbourne dished 21 assists – with starting guard combo Gary Browne and Will Cummings accounting for 13 of those alone.

Santamaria says the 36ers need to figure out how to keep everyone involved on offence with Vasiljevic in the side.

“They needed offensive punch so bringing a guy who can knockdown shots in really helps. The thing is he’s not a playmaker or a creator for others, so they need to find a balance between DJ’s offence and making sure that helps the team’s production overall,” he said.

“You look at a guy like Isaac Humphries last night, he had two points on one shot, he’s got to be way more involved.

“They need to try and find that balance between McCarron, Cadee and Trey Kell creating, DJ catching and shooting and knocking shots down, and the big guys inside – Humphries and Wiley – getting plenty of looks.

“For me that starts with getting stops because then you can run and everybody can have some fun in transition.”

Adelaide will host Perth in its second game of the Round 4 double-header on Saturday at 8pm AEDT, live on ESPN via Kayo.