Title fancies seventh and ninth: What's wrong?

Heading into the Hungry Jack's NBL27 Season, the experts were unanimous. Adelaide was the team to beat, and Melbourne sat firmly among the elite chasing pack.

Three rounds in, the ladder tells a different story.

Adelaide is seventh. Melbourne is ninth. Between them, they have just three wins from nine games.

It's a long way from the dominance everyone predicted, but it's still early days, and with the talent at both clubs' disposal, it seems only a matter of time before the tide turns.

Wednesday night pits two of the championship favourites, and two of the League's most dominant players, Bryce Cotton and Cole Anthony, against each other for the second time this year.

The 36ers got the points in Round 1 as the star point guards went toe-to-toe.

So who blinks first in Adelaide?

"It's definitely the injured versus the unpredictable in my eyes," 2009 NBL champion Mark Worthington said, pointing to each team's early-season struggles.

For Adelaide, the injury list has bitten hard. Flynn Cameron and Isaac Humphries are both sidelined, alongside Bul Kuol, and Worthington pointed to their absence leaving a huge hole.

"I thought he [Cameron] had a great off-season. He came into this season looking fantastic. So he's also a big loss," Worthington said on NBL Now, presented by CODE Sports.

Without Humphries, the 36ers have also lost much of their inside presence.

"When Trevor had success at the Wildcats previously, he had big men that could slip to the basket and punish teams, basically, that wanted to jump out at Bryce Cotton, and at the moment they don't quite have that threat at the rim," Worthington said.

Worthington also took aim at import John Jenkins, who is still searching for his shooting touch.

"No one's talking about his lack of production, of what he's bringing to the team," he said. "They bring an import in for a reason and he hasn't been able to fit the bill yet."

Adelaide has turned to veteran Corey Webster for extra firepower in recent days, while across the border, Melbourne's issues run deeper than personnel. Cole Anthony is scoring at will, but United are yet to find their groove.

"They're just unpredictable at the moment. They don't really know where their shots are coming from. Doesn't look like there's too much continuity there," Worthington said.

"Let's talk about two people that haven't lived up to the brief of what they were supposed to be this year, which has been Luke Travers and Sam Waardenburg to this stage.

"Sam Waardenburg, on big money, down from Cairns to come in and play this four spot for Melbourne United, has not been seen, basically, to this stage."

Worthington said both teams needed to lift, with Wednesday night's Ignite Cup clash the perfect springboard for the rest of the season.

"I still think Melbourne United can get the win tonight based off the talent that they have on the court," he said.

But with a six-time MVP in the opposing lineup, nothing is guaranteed.

"Adelaide can win because they've got a guy called Bryce Cotton on their team," he said. "Bryce Cotton is that damn good and he has been that damn good for that long."

Cotton has had back-to-back quieter games by his own lofty standards, but Worthington believes a big night is coming.

"I still expect him to have this breakout game under Trevor Gleeson where everything just sort of works for him," he said. "I saw it too often when I played against him at the Wildcats under Trev, and I expect to see it again."

Watch Adelaide v Melbourne on Wednesday night, live on ESPN from 7:30pm AEDT.