Wells compares Cotton to NBA legend

NBL superstar Bryce Cotton returned to regular programming on Thursday night.

After one of his quieter performances in recent times, the five-time MVP tallied 28 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in Adelaide’s 88-71 win over South East Melbourne.

It was the perfect bounceback for one of the league's best ever players, drawing comparisons with an all-time NBA great.

"We're [still] trying to figure out those offensive roles and know that Bryce is one of the most unselfish superstars," Wells said in Thursday's post-game press conference.

"I've compared him to a lot of guys over the years, and one of the most unselfish superstars I was around was Tim Duncan.

"He was willing to do those things and always pass and good to great [shots] and all those things that the Spurs stood for.

"Bryce is like that at times, so [sometimes] I've got to sit there and say, 'hey, shoot the ball, man. Go get it.' and his teammates know that even when he goes and gets it, that he'll end up passing it to them [if they're open]."

That wasn't the only NBA reference Wells, in his second year in Adelaide, made during the press conference, comparing his video tactics to Quin Snyder, who the Mount Vernon Nazarene alum worked alongside as an assistant coach at the Utah Jazz from 2014-22.

"[After the Sydney loss] we had a really long film session, probably too long and I did my best version of Quin Snyder there," he said.

"It was one of those days where I knew we couldn't do a lot on the practice floor, so I decided that we would do it with their minds.

"There's a whole bunch of different ways that we can learn and teach and so we just did it through video.

"It's important for me and at times I hate to talk so much, but we're trying to get everybody to kind of like think, talk and act like a Sixer.

"It's about getting everybody on the same page, which was easier in that moment than later in the season, as it's the first piece of adversity we've faced [this season]."

The 36rers, who are currently 4-1, now travel to Cairns for a Saturday night showdown with the Taipans, tipping off at 5.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.