It could be all or nothing for the Adelaide 36ers and Brock Motum over the next couple of months with Motum’s ability to lead the Sixers into the NBL playoffs likely to be a determining factor in him earning an NBA contract.
The Sixers now sit on a 10-11 record to be narrowly behind the 11-10 Melbourne United and 12-8 Perth Wildcats, with Adelaide having games to come against Wollongong, Sydney, Townsville and Sydney again – who all are out of the playoff hunt.
If they are serious about making the playoffs and making an impact, that should mean four wins which likely would have them in the top four. And if they make it don’t be surprised to see them go very close to winning the championship.
In turn, don’t be surprised to see Motum playing in the NBA in 2015-16.
Right now the 36ers are still looking on at the NBL’s top four from the outside, but having now won six of their last seven games they are breathing right down the necks of the third-place Wildcats and fourth-place Melbourne with star big man Daniel Johnson signing this week to add further firepower.
Motum joined the 36ers six games into the season on the back of narrowly missing a roster spot in the NBA with the Utah Jazz following representing the Australian Boomers at the FIBA World Cup.
The Queensland-born 24-year-old spent last season, his first out of college, playing in Italy and then burst on to the world stage with strong performances for his country going from fringe Boomer, to key player at the World Cup in Spain.
Then by playing well in the NBA Summer League, he was unlucky not to join Dante Exum and Joe Ingles with the Jazz, and Patty Mills, Aron Baynes, Matthew Dellavedova, Cameron Bairstow and Andrew Bogut as Australians in the big time.
The versatile big man started his NBL career ominously with 28 points and six rebounds, and then 18 points and 14 boards in his opening two appearances before things plateaued and he had a run of seven games averaging just 12 points and 4.6 boards.
Adelaide lost its opening seven games with Motum in the line-up, but his improved form over the past seven matches has seen him average 22.6 points and 8.3 rebounds and the 36ers have won six of those with the only loss being a tight one against the league-leading New Zealand Breakers.
That has included home-and-away wins over the second-place Cairns Taipans, and road wins over Perth and Melbourne. Now, the 36ers have to be able to continue their strong performances against teams below them to push for a spot in the playoffs.
Motum delivered one of, if not the best, individual performances of the season in last Friday’s win over Perth with 31 points and 13 rebounds, but it was the timing of when he stepped up including hitting a tying three with two and-a-half minutes left and then the match-seal breakaway dunk in the final seconds that was most telling.
He then delivered another solid 17 points and 11 rebounds in Sunday’s win at home over the bottom-placed Wollongong Hawks. Now not only is Motum showing form that suggests he belongs in the NBA, but the 36ers are emerging as not only playoff threats, but title chances.
With the team’s leading scorer and rebounder from the last two seasons Johnson joining the 36ers for road games this weekend in Wollongong, and Sydney on return from Poland and as an injury replacement for BJ Anthony, things are looking up for the Sixers.
That could mean big things for Motum. Leading his team to the playoffs and perhaps further while putting up the numbers at the moment certainly could see him join James Ennis as NBL player one season and then appearing in the NBA the next.
Motum himself admits to taking some time to click with the 36ers initially, but now he is fitting in and the team is clicking as a whole unit.
“Initially when I came here like with any team when a new player comes in midway through the season it can be hard to adjust to me fitting in, and for them to find where to hit me in the right spots and how we all sync together,” Motum said.
“It took a little longer than I wanted and probably that they wanted, but it’s now syncing and I think we are pretty to watch.
“We just need to keep working and if we focus on one game at a time like we have been recently, and keep working then by the end of the season we will see our body of work and hopefully we are where we want to be.”
Adelaide coach Joey Wright knows all about leading teams jam packed with individual talent and leading them to the promised land, having done just that previously with the Brisbane Bullets. He has no doubt that if the team keeps going as they are at present, they can go a long way.
“He’s done that the last six, seven, eight games when he’s been big for us. He’s been carrying us by making big plays and there was a big defensive player there at the end of the game, but he just carried us and when we needed a bucket we were able to go to him,” Wright said.
“Our guys are playing harder and smarter now than earlier in the season and we are able to get wins as a result. I definitely have confidence that we can attack from a lot of different areas when we get down and real determined, and that’s when we can do some good things.
“We still have a lot of work to do to get there and we just need to try and get this win on Sunday to try and position ourselves every game to get there.”
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