Cotton won't rewatch it ... but he's taking notes

Bryce Cotton insists he'll never rewatch last year's Championship Series, but he's honest enough to admit he's spent plenty of time reflecting on what could have been.

A three-time NBL champion and six-time MVP, Cotton has achieved just about everything there is to achieve in the League, but even he's still looking to improve.

"I still think about it [the Championship Series] a little bit, but it's more so just understanding what seed does this plant?" he told SEN SA.

"You can't do anything about the past. What's happened has happened, but we have [the 36ers] the power as a team and as individuals to determine, 'how does this play out for the next chapter for us?'

"I've done a lot of looking at teams in football, basketball who've lost the championship and gone back to win it the next year … not saying that's what's in store for us, but it's been done plenty of times, so it's a lot of hope to have."

Cotton says he and his teammates left nothing behind in the five-game series against Sydney, falling agonisingly short in the final seconds. But perhaps that sliver of unfinished business is exactly the motivation needed to make sure it doesn't happen again.

"What I'm big on is you pride yourself on effort, not results, because if you try hard enough usually the results will come," Cotton added.

"I feel as a player individually and as a team we did everything we could to put ourselves in a position, and we came up short. So because of that, I feel like if we were meant to win we would have, but we didn't … there's nothing to hang our heads low about, because I know we gave it our all."

The 34-year-old is once again the marquee man in the Hungry Jack's NBL, though this year he's arguably got more competition than ever.

Kendric Davis stakes a legitimate claim to being the League's number one player alongside Cotton, while the additions of Cole Anthony, Brandon Knight, Arnas Velička and Skylar Mays show just how deep the talent pool has become. With Australian stars Luke Travers and Joe Ingles also back in the fold, the competition is as strong as it's ever been.

Adelaide tips off its NBL27 campaign against Melbourne United on Saturday at John Cain Arena, live from 7:30pm AEST on ESPN, 9Go! and 9Now, tipping off a huge Opening Week of 13 games in 9 days.