Mid-Season Report Card: Adelaide 36ers

With the Hungry Jack's NBL26 competition currently on a time-out due to FIBA Break, NBL Media has decided to assess each of the 10 teams and give them a mid-season report card.

During this series, one expert on NBL Now will evaluate the team's progress through the first 10 rounds, while also naming their most improved and MVPs.

Finally, they will each team a grade and predicted finishing spot.

The next cab off the ranks, after the Perth Wildcats and Illawarra Hawks, are the red-hot Adelaide 36ers, with the team's performance analysed by 2020 NBL Sixth Man of the Year, Jason Cadee.

Report card score: A

I don't think it can be harsh to a team that's sitting where they are. I'll actually give them an A. At the end of the day, United's probably an A+, so I believe Adelaide are an A. They're winning games, they're getting things done, they're still evolving.

What you like: Securing early wins

Adelaide is sitting where maybe people had them written down to be given their roster build. What we have seen is them trying to figure it out on the fly. They're still one of the teams trying to figure it out, but they've broken away where they're currently 11-3 and they've got a really great record. That's a massive win for Mike [Wells] and the group because they are still in a place where they are trying to figure it out. You can see that in some of their game night substitutions, with who they're starting and who's coming off the bench. For them as a group, you'd be stoked going into the free break with where they are. They've got so much room to grow and I think they need to grow if they're going to win at all.

What needs to change: Starting five and rotations

I actually spoke to DJ (Vasiljevic) the week before he actually came off the bench, with the idea, I knew there was an import possibly coming in soon. I said to him with the makeup of their group, like last year for me, I always was a guy who looked to get DJ going. I would try and run stuff for him where I knew he liked the ball. They don't necessarily have that guy this year. They've got a lot of guys who can get stuff done and they try to obviously gear everything to Bryce [Cotton]. With how Mike (Wells) was subbing, DJ was coming off of the six-minute mark every quarter in the first quarter and then he would come back late in the quarter. I spoke to DJ and said this isn't a talent thing, this is just timing who the team has and I think you'd be better off asking to come off the bench.

Now they (Adelaide) ended up having a discussion separate to me and him, but I just thought it might have helped him as a basketball player. You could see that he hasn't been putting up the numbers we'd expect. Part of me was thinking that it would give him more of a rhythm and it possibly gives him more of a chance to respire because you've got DJ fresh coming in the back end of the first. From there you figure it out. But to answer your question, I actually would stick with that.

Ultimately, I'd start Troy Brown Jr, who they brought in for a reason, alongside Flynn (Cameron), Bryce, (Zylan) Cheatham and Isaac (Humphries), who's been doing a fantastic job this season. Then Mike has to figure out who his eight guys are, because that's likely all you're going to play come finals time.

Most improved player: Isaac White

It's a tough one. I have Flynn Cameron, who has done a very good job, down to win the NBL award. But I'm actually going to give it to Isaac White. He has come in and played a role, especially in this first part of the year that's really helped them win games. Just through his energy. They've been able to rely on him to be a backup ball-handler. They don't have a natural point guard, so he's been able to take on that role. Isaac's played a pretty pivotal role this year, which helps them play with different lineups.

Team MVP: Bryce Cotton

Bryce is definitely it. And if Derek (Rucker) doesn't put him at number one on the list, then he's clearly not taking it seriously. But I also want to give a special shoutout Cheatham and Isaac. Isaac, who I was with for a few seasons, is playing so well off Bryce, as he's just got a great feel of playing out of pick and rolls and being able to be in the right spots. He's someone I could always rely on throwing it in different areas. Normally not above the ring. He doesn't like catching lobs. But outside of that, he had a great feel for where to play. The other night, Bryce had 11 or 12 assists and six or seven of them were probably to Isaac. Then you've got a guy like Zylan who is just actually doing bits of everything. He's rebounding the ball. He's now started to score the ball, which is an area he needs to focus on for their group because he can score the ball. He's just been a connector piece to everyone, where the value can't be underestimated. Those two, along with Bryce, are big reasons why right now they're second on the ladder.

Who needs to step up: Nick Rakocevic

He's come in and you forget he's an import obviously. We can say to replace Trez [Montrezl Harrell], but it's just to replace that spot because obviously Trez's impact basketball wise, was very good. For Nick, we've started to see more over the last few weeks and I don't know if that's just he's becoming more comfortable or he's starting to figure out the league, but ultimately, they need that third piece with Zylan and Isaac to bring something different and just help things tick over if one of them is struggling. He's the piece that can really take him to another level. We haven't seen enough yet of Troy Brown Jr. I tend to think he's going to be very good when he finds his feet. He just gives me that impression of natural feel and like he can really get things done. If they're gonna win it all, I think he (Rakocevic) will play a pretty big piece in being one of those eight guys that can really tick over in many different ways.

Finishing prediction: Second

I believe they'll finish second and United still will finish first. Adelaide still have a lot of learning to do. They lost to United in that one game even though they had control of it. They lost to Sydney, so Adelaide need to still show that they can beat top teams consistently. I think that'll go great for them in the back end of the year, so I'm pretty comfortable saying they will finish in the top two, which they'd be pretty stoked about, going into finals being second on the ladder.