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Adelaide 36ers big man Daniel Johnson knows only too well how hard it is to achieve the ultimate success in the NBL, as he looks to ensure his team doesn’t fall into the same trap Melbourne United did 12 months ago.
The 36ers have been the great surprise packet of the NBL season, having secured the minor premiership for a couple of weeks, despite coming into the season the wooden spoon favourite and likely the least money to spend on the playing roster.
This Sixers team has shown the value of having a strong, demanding coach, and of a playing group who has developed a great chemistry and love for each other.
On top of that, they haven’t made any changes to their roster through the season.
The end result is that the 36ers remain the only team in the NBL guaranteed of playing in the finals heading into the last round.
They will finish on top, while the Illawarra Hawks, Melbourne United, Perth Wildcats, Cairns Taipans, Sydney Kings and New Zealand Breakers battle over the remaining spots.
It is the first time the 36ers have finished atop the NBL at the end of the regular season since 2000, as they chase a first title since 2002, but finishing in first place doesn’t guarantee anything.
Adelaide only has to look back 12 months to get a perfect example of that and the comparisons to Melbourne United are remarkably similar.
Melbourne had top spot secure heading into the final round of the season last year, where they played the New Zealand Breakers twice and didn’t make any great effort to win.
That saw the Breakers end up taking fourth spot and then easily beating Melbourne in two games in the semi-final series to unceremoniously end United’s season.
It can certainly be argued that taking New Zealand lightly in that final round gave the Breakers the boost they needed to go on and continue that the following week in the semi-finals.
Now the 36ers face a similar task. They will take on a Cairns Taipans team twice, home and away, with the Snakes needing to win if they want to take part in the finals, while there is nothing riding on it for Adelaide.
But as Melbourne showed a year ago, you don’t want to head into the finals in losing form even if it is because you rested your star players in the hopes of freshening them up.
By doing that last year Melbourne handed New Zealand the edge.
Adelaide can’t afford to do that this year or the remarkable season they have put together could very well count for nought.
If the 36ers don’t throw everything at beating the Taipans this week to enter the post-season in winning form, there’s every chance they will then take on the Snakes in the semi-finals.
Like a year ago, it will be Cairns with the momentum and the Taipans could be tough to stop with the added motivation of Mark Worthington’s retirement, and the boost of new import of Tony Mitchell who is making an impact.
That lesson of a year ago is one that Adelaide could do well to learn from but complacency isn’t something that goes hand-in-hand with a team coached by Joey Wright, or that has a star like Jerome Randle running the ship along with the emerging Nathan Sobey and captain Mitch Creek.
Johnson, meanwhile, has been the man to come out of his shell this season for the 36ers.
Never the most vocal – he still isn’t – Johnson has proven capable of taking on the extra responsibility as a leader this season to go along with his continued production of 15.0 points and 7.1 rebounds a game.
Having played in two losing grand finals previously, he is doing everything he can to go that one step further.
“I wouldn’t call myself a strong leader or anything like that, and it’s not something that comes naturally to me, but I am speaking up more,” Johnson said.
“I feel like I understand the game pretty well so I can help out the younger guys who might be in their first or second year professionally.
“I’ve seen a bit more so if I see something that’s going on, I let them know and slowly and gradually try to help them out which is something I’m getting better at.”
As for the challenge of remaining at 100 per cent intensity the last two weeks and now heading into the last round despite nothing being at stake in terms of finishing position, Johnson admits it has been tough but he is fully aware how important it is to take winning form into the playoffs.
“Obviously the last couple of weeks we’ve been wishing the finals were now and we didn’t have to play these last four games, but now we are excited. A lot of the guys haven’t played in a finals series before so it’s exciting for them,” Johnson said.
“And it’s exciting for the club to be back in the finals and going in as the top seed is something that’s pretty special. If we can get going on a little run here and get in some good form again going into the playoffs, anything can happen which is cool.”
Friday
Illawarra Hawks 90 beat Cairns Taipans 73 at WIN Entertainment Centre
Perth Wildcats 94 beat Brisbane Bullets 63 at Perth Arena
Saturday
Adelaide 36ers 87 lost to New Zealand Breakers 88 at Titanium Security Arena
Sydney Kings 76 lost to Melbourne United 89 at Qudos Bank Arena
Sunday
Cairns Taipans 85 beat Perth Wildcats 77 at Cairns Convention Centre
Monday
Melbourne United 78 beat Illawarra Hawks 72 at Hisense Arena