Chaos to chemistry: How Weston rebuilt 36ers

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Adelaide 36ers general manager of basketball operations Matt Weston is a polarising figure — known for being associated with the unexpected sacking of club legend Scott Ninnis on the eve of NBL25 and the messy undertone of Kendric Davis’ recent departure.

But those were hard decisions he’s not afraid to make — helping form his vision for a thriving 36ers NBL26 roster, which has already come to life in glimpses this preseason.

“You give the ingredients to Mike [Wells] and he’s the chef, he puts it together and he cooks,” Weston told basketball.com.au.

“These guys are built different, they’ve got a big engine and you can see that.”

Having finished with a 13-16 record (6th) in NBL25, the 36ers not only added three star imports, adding the greatest import to ever play in the NBL in Bryce Cotton as well as former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell and Zylan Cheatham but also Kiwi star Flynn Cameron and significant role players such as South Australian product Isaac White, Matthew Kenyon, Michael Harris and Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence young gun Che Brogan.

It was all part of Weston's on-court non-negotiables which informed the team’s recruitment strategy in a bounce back year.

“I’ve got them because they have to me, a real level of toughness and grunt. Like they don’t give up,” he said.

“These guys are pit bulls."

Weston equally highlighted the importance of depth in a 33-week season where wear and tear is unavoidable, and for a team that was last in bench points in the NBL25 regular season.

“I reckon the league is going to be about who has the best 7th, 8th, 9th man — can they give you something each night at a good efficient rate," he said.

“That’s why I went with the guys that I did because I believe they’re going to be able to bring that in a 33-game season."

“I need them to be at a top level every game, and that’s going to be the difference of finishing top two, top four, over a play-in spot.”

With Kendric Davis departing for Sydney and Bryce Cotton arriving from Perth in his place, Weston shared the front office’s thinking in complimenting Cotton and Harrell with marksmen from the perimeter.

“We know that if Trez [Harrell] gets it in the post, he’s probably going to be double-teamed, and we saw it with Sydney last year, they double teamed everything. Well, that’s even harder now because it gets kicked out and Bryce [Cotton] is there, so his man’s not going to come off him,” he said.

“So that means you’re going to be playing three on two on the perimeter, and you can see our guys will make the extra pass and make wide open shots.

“That’s basketball for us. That’s the difference.”

Weston said head coach Mike Wells has inspired this line of thinking, after the South Australian side shot the least amount of threes of any team in NBL25.

“Mike comes from the NBA, which is like, ‘let’s get up 43 three pointers’,” he said.

“It’s very hard to make a run on people and build a lead on twos, it’s just too hard. Threes get crowds going and threes shut crowds up. That’s the beauty of it and that’s the excitement of it.”

Yet to hit the ground running for the 36ers, Weston was excited to see how the defensive prowess and off-the-ball cutting of Kenyon would mesh as he complements the perimeter firepower added by the front office.

“Kenyon is a guy that is probably one of the best off-ball movers that puts heat on the rim without the ball,” he said.

“It’s [a concept that’s] been around forever, but not many people do it now so it’s an art — it’s a vortex that brings players in, which opens space.”

Alongside veterans and role players, the Adelaide front office has been deliberate in their selection of young talent. The journeys of Che Brogan, the Manyang brothers and Blake Jones revolve around their immersion in high performance environments.

Weston said this is a key factor in how the front office considers the youth they select, circling the CoE as one targeted area.

“Robbie McKinlay (the COE coach), he knows how to get guys ready — I don’t have to worry about who’s teaching them,” he said.

“The COE develops right. As soon as we knew about Che [Brogan], I knew he’d be fine. This is because he’s been with Robbie two years, there’s no way he would’ve lasted with Robbie otherwise.

“Robbie would say no, you can’t defend, you can’t be here. These guys are more important than a guy that that can score 35 in the NBL1 because they’re doing it in a way you won’t be able to do out here [in the NBL].”

Weston was thrilled with the output of 19-year-old Brogan so far, as his short stints have exhibited impact beyond the box score, and he’s provided a great level of energy from the bench, showing maturity despite his age.

“He’s coming in really well, with confidence but not cockiness,” he said.

“He comes from a bloodline of Olympians — he does all the hard work and doesn’t let us down when he’s on the court. For him to be vocal, it just shows his connection with the team and what Mike, and the other coaches have built, so it’s exciting.”

On the eve of NBL26, the underlying turmoil that simmered in NBL25 for the 36ers has blown up to the surface.

But as the once dynamic duo of Davis and Harrell exhibit a fractured relationship and embody Adelaide’s past troubles, 36ers guard Dejan Vasiljevic told the NBL that a new energy has revitalised the playing group as they press forward.

“We didn’t have great chemistry or bonding off the court last year, and we’ve done more pretty much in the last three or four weeks than we did all of last year,” he said on September 8.

Backing Vasiljevic’s claims, Weston acknowledged that resolution needed to be achieved without coming at the expense of talent. He stated the players he recruited for NBL26 needed great character above all else.

“Last year, it probably just wasn’t the right mix of people. You got to get that flow, and I wish them well — this year it’s such a different feeling,” Weston said.

“It may not sound sexy, talent’s one thing but are they good guys? At the hotel the other night, I had Matt Kenyon, [Michael] Harris, and Whitey [Isaac White] playing cards in the lobby. Now that’s what I’m used to in a team. We didn’t have that last year, they’d go their own ways.

“It’s hard to build any camaraderie, but when you get in the shit... you can look at each other and say let’s do this together.”

Weston's 36ers mantra is simple "every night, team first, maximum effort".

They will have the first chance to showcase that new mantra when their season tips-off against the Brisbane Bullets on September 28, 2025.