Davis Cooks as Sixers make it 2 from 2

Hey everyone, today I'm going to go through 5 things we learned from Round 2 from the Adelaide 36ers. The Sixers went 2-0 last week beating the South East Melbourne Phoenix and the Illawarra Hawks. Their first home game was against the new look Phoenix on Thursday night and being there live was electric. You could really start to see the team gel together and all 4 stars showed out. Isaac Humphries was able to get going which is crucial for this team and the defensive intensity was far improved from the previous week. They were in control the entire game and cruised to a 93-83 win. Kendric Davis set the tone with 21 points, 7 assists and 4 steals while DJ Vasiljevic and Isaac Humphries got going early both finishing with 22 points. Montrezl Harrell was a beast yet again finishing with a double double of 14 points and 11 rebounds to go along with 2 blocks.

The Sixers then headed down to Illawarra to play the undefeated Hawks on Saturday and came out with a huge road win in what was potentially game of the season. A high scoring affair where the Sixers where able to get the 100-102 victory on the back of Kendric Davis heroics. Davis was lights out shooting 66% from the field and 55% from three. He finished the game with 32 points, 4 assists and 2 steals and went 13-21 from the field. He never looked frazzled, was in control from beginning to end and stepped up when the game was on the line showing why he is an MVP candidate. He didn't do it alone though as the other big 3 were firing yet again. Humphries finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks (1 of which to save the game). While fellow big Harrell had 17 points of his own to go along with 10 rebounds. Vasiljevic was also firing and ended with 18 points.

Here are my 5 key takeaways from Round 2.

1. Kendric Davis is showing why he is an MVP candidate - It's safe to say the media overreacted and had some unfair criticism of Davis from what was only a 2 game sample size. Olgun Uluc said during the week he's not sure if the way Davis plays is conducive to winning which is a pretty bold statement to make from such a small sample size. If you know anything about Davis though and have followed his carrer then you know it's no surprise that he balled out this week. It was only a matter of time before he was going to get going because he is a winner and is essentially unguarable. He has the ball on a string and with his lightning speed and craftiness he can get you a bucket whenever he likes and is extremely unselfish which makes his teammates better, highlighted by the fact he is averaging 7 assists. We also saw a much improved defensive effort from him this week and showed that when he is locked in he makes life hard for his opponent. He was flying around the court and did a great job at staying attached to his opponent which resulted in a fair few steals. Without doubt he sets the tone for this team and kills you in so many different ways as well being a 2 way player. You can tell by the way he talked in his press conference earlier in the week that he really doesn't care what anyone thinks and was not going to panic about dropping 2 games. It's still very early but I think he will definitely be an MVP candidate come end of the season and is without doubt one of the most exciting players to watch.

   

Photo via: nbl.com.au

2. Isaac Humphries is finding his groove - It's fair to say Humphries had a rough start to the season scoring just 5 points combined in the first 2 games. He bounced back in a big way though averaging 19.5 points and 7 rebounds from the 2 games this round. Humphries firing is crucial to the teams success and it's fair to say the connection just wasn't there in the opening round. He wasn't getting the ball in his spots as well as getting in foul trouble. You could tell he was down on confidence as well and things just weren't working. But with a new team and new coach it takes time to figure out how you're going to work together and where to get him the ball. That connection was definitely much better this week and you could see his confidence shift as a result. What also seemed to work was Montrezl Harrell coming into the starting line up alongside him. Harrell is a huge presence that draws a lot of attention and playing the two bigs together allows Humphries to get different looks as Mike Wells said.

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   Photo via: nbl.com.au

   
   

   3. Montrezl Harrell is such a huge presence - Again this one is no surprise but Harrell continued to be dominant and put up numbers in round 2. Mike Wells moved him to the starting line up this round and it payed off. Watching him live is a ton of fun and you can see how much he adds to the group. An incredible leader, constantly communicates on and off the court, extremely poised allowing the game to come to him and is overall just too big and too strong for anyone to guard. You can see the passion he brings and his energy made the crowd go wild. He had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks against the Phoenix as well as 17 points and 10 rebounds vs the Hawks. He's had a double double in 3 out of his 4 games so far and with him patrolling the paint a lot of shots get sent packing thanks to his incredible timing and athleticism.

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   Photo via: ESPN

   
   

   4. New starting line up has made an impact - Mike Wells changed the starting line up in Round 2. Montrezl Harrell moved in and Lat Mayen went to the bench. This was nothing to do with Mayen who played incredibly well in the opening round but the reality is the 36ers weren't having the best starts and adding a guy like Harrell to the starting line up gave a completely different look and presence. I thought this would be the starting line up to start the season but it makes sense why Mike Wells opted to bring Harrell off the bench to begin with seeing he had only just joined the team and having Lat in the starting line up could help space the floor for Humphries. It was a very tough decision for Wells as he said in his press conference that he was up all night thinking about it and still didn't know who he would start when he arrived at the venue. It definitely payed off though, having Harrell out there to begin with allowed him to put his stamp on the game from the jump and also helped Isaac get different looks as Harrell makes others around him better and is a good passer as well as being able to flash and still give Isaac room to operate. It makes it extremely tough for the opponent to deal with 2 elite bigs right from the jump. This was especially able to be exploited against the Phoenix seeing their main big is Jordan Hunter and it made it very tough for him and Matt Hurt to guard. Once Hunter got in foul trouble then it was amplified even more. Overall this was a great move by Mike Wells and the difference in how we started games from Round 1 to Round 2 was obvious.

   

   Photo via: Illawarra Mercury

5. Mike Wells is the guy - There was a lot of criticism when Mike Wells got announced as coach and rightly so. It had nothing to do with Wells it was just the shock of Ninnis getting fired and the way it was done. I thought Ninnis was a great coach and he is but I have been extremely impressed with Wells so far and the way he has handled everything. I know it's only early but his organisation and demeanour is very impressive. The offence looks great and there are constant actions happening every play and it's pretty to watch. Especially in the recent history of the 36ers there was a lot of standing around on offense where as with Wells everyone is moving and screening and cutting for others and for the most part everyone is on the same page. He is definitely a players coach and brings a positive mentality to the team while also having standards that must be met. Defensively there is a lot to work on still but you can see the effort is there and guys are still learning how to play with one another. I think without doubt what Wells brings to the table and what he has been able to implement is a short amount of time is amazing and the wealth of experience he has coaching in the NBA shows.

   

   Photo via: nbl.com.au