Adelaide "Loaded" With Talent

The Adelaide 36ers have kicked off their NBL23 campaign much like they did in NBL22, and that’s with getting a Blitz tournament win under their belts.

Although they don’t play their first NBL game until round three due to their NBLxNBA commitments, the 36ers will be hoping this season doesn’t head in the same direction as the last. Despite their strong showings in pre-season, they limped to a seventh-placed finish.

This is a vastly different Adelaide roster than the one that opened NBL22, according to NBL analyst Liam Santamaria.

“For me the biggest difference between last season is despite winning a few games in pre-season there were still questions about a couple of spots on the roster,” Santamaria said on NBL Overtime. 

“Dusty Hannahs, Todd Withers, what were those guys going to be and how were they going to contribute to the team in their minutes. There’s very few questions with this [season’s] team as far as talent is concerned.

“Antonius Cleveland. Robert Franks. Craig Randall. Mitch McCarron. They’re just loaded. [They’ve] still got Anthony Drmic to come back into this group and add some talent as well.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BACK ?? TO ?? BACK!<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Adelaide36ers</a> have claimed preseason bragging rights for the second straight season, winning the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> Blitz and getting their hands on the Loggins-Bruton Cup ?<br><br>CJ Bruton keeping it in the family ? <a href="https://t.co/AKgZ9fbSoT">pic.twitter.com/AKgZ9fbSoT</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1573270742044909570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

One man Santamaria didn’t mention is returning big man Daniel Johnson.

After earning a silver medal at the recent  Commonwealth Games, Johnson was a late arrival to Adelaide's pre-season in order to rest up ahead of another gruelling campaign.

The big man has obtained seven All-NBL selections over the course of his storied career, and having been at the 36ers since 2015 he’s often been the player the team has looked to to be their primary offensive contributor.

Former NBL MVP Corey Williams says the talent Adelaide has added will allow coach CJ Bruton to get the best out of Johnson.

“The biggest thing about this season as opposed to last season is Daniel Johnson has been the focal point offensively for this team and right now he doesn’t have to be that,” Williams said.

“I think he’s going to be in a position where he’s going to play his best basketball because he has weapons at every position, so each possession down you don’t have to rely heavily on him offensively to carry your team down the road, and I think that’s a big thing for him.”