The 36ers were unable to celebrate a major milestone with a win. Photo: @adelaide36ers on Twitter
The Adelaide 36ers may have challenged hard but were eventually overrun by Melbourne United at John Cain Arena.
A disappointing loss meant Daniel Johnson was unable to celebrate game 300 with a win.
Teammate Jack McVeigh spoke about his impact on the club, and his legacy as a player.
“I think DJ’s been under-appreciated his entire career,” he said.
“Like the last decade, leads the league in points and rebounds. At scoring the ball, he’s one of the best I’ve ever seen at it.
“He’s a quiet guy, but you know he’s a good guy, always gets around the boys, everyone loves him.
“Not the loudest one in the group but I have a team full of loud guys, so he fills that role and everyone loves him.”
The tough slog was blown out of the water in the final quarter by Melbourne United.
36ers coach Conner Henry lamented the team not being able to sustain the pressure for the full game.
“I thought we played hard enough to win the basketball game,” he said.
“We rebounded the ball from our offensive end at a high rate, but the reality is we couldn’t finish the basketball. We missed quite a number at the rim.
“We also missed and had opportunities with good looks on our side of the paint that we didn’t lock down.
“Opportunities were there, we just weren’t able to capitalise.”
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Henry says ensuring that Isaac Humphries remains fit so he can take to the court for longer will be key for the next few weeks.
“There’s no minutes restriction with him,” he said.
“As much as we can keep feeding him to bring him along, not sure when we’ll insert him back into the starting lineup.
“We’ll see how he goes tomorrow morning, head down to Tassie, see how the foot reacts.
“There’s no timetable but we need to get him fit.”
With not long until the end of the season, questions were raised if the 36ers will continue pushing for a playoff spot, even if chances of success are slim.
“We continue to fight, every single night,” Henry said.
“We’re not out of this thing yet.
“It’s not over, and if we can string some wins together, and we see who comes back to the pack and if we’re close there, maybe we make some noise right near the end.
“We’ve got a whole lot of basketball left to play.”
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