Bryce Cotton on Joe Ingles to 36ers: 'I’m not sure'

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Six-time MVP Bryce Cotton poured cold water on speculation NBA veteran and Boomers legend Joe Ingles’ romantic return home to play for the Adelaide 36ers in NBL27.

“I’m not sure. I’d have to take a look at Joe, see how he’s moving these days,” Cotton told SEN in South Australia earlier this week.

“I haven’t watched a lot of the NBA this year.

At this stage, we want to make sure anybody we sign can definitely help us on the court.

“It’s not about just signing a big name.”

Ingles, 38, started for the Minnesota Timberwolves against the Orlando Magic in Florida yesterday in another people-first decision by Wolves head coach Chris Finch. Ingles got the start so he could play in front of his family, who live in Florida.

The near-800-game NBA veteran was born in Adelaide and played for the now-defunct Souths Dragons in the NBL between 2006 and 2009, before spending five years in Europe and then eight years with the Utah Jazz.

Speculation he could finish his career back in Australia is mounting.

The 36ers were a defensive board away from winning it all in Game 5 of the NBL26 Grand Final Series before being overrun by the Sydney Kings 113-101 in overtime.

“It’s a different ending than last year,” 36ers head coach Mike Wells said in the minutes after the loss.

“That one was bitter. This one is bitter in a different way because we were right on the cusp of winning a championship.

“I’ll take a moment to step back from this one because we have such a quality group. I have some ideas about what we need, but I don’t want to make a rash decision – it’s emotional right now.

“Both guards are under contract. Flynn (Cameron) and Bryce – that’s a backcourt for the future. Flynn’s growth has been huge. He’s big, physical, and complements Bryce.

“Zylan (Cheatham), Nick (Rakocevic), Isaac (Humphries), DJ (Dejan Vasiljevic), Isaac White – those guys are coming back.

“That’s the foundation I’m proud of. Now you can start to tinker.”

Cotton, 33, is already thinking about the type of player the 36ers need to add, given the core is returning.

“I think we’re just one or two pieces away,” he said.

“Probably somebody that’s long, can defend, athletic, stuff like that.

“Bringing back 80% of the team is huge for us.

“The team morale, the mental fortitude, the toughness… it’s going to be very rare.

“It’ll be hard to play in any game that rattles any of our guys because we’ve been in the biggest games.

“Once you add one or two pieces, it helps you continue to build off where we left off.”

Adelaide 36ers in NBL26: By the Numbers

+----------------------+-----+----+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Name                 | POS | GP | PPG  | FGA  | FGM  | FG%  | 3PA  | 3PM  | 3P%  | FTA  | FTM  | FT%  | APG  | BPG  | SPG  | TPG  | F    |
+----------------------+-----+----+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Bryce Cotton         | G   | 40 | 25.9 | 18.9 | 8.3  | 44   | 8.6  | 3.3  | 38   | 6.6  | 6.0  | 90   | 7.6  | 0.3  | 1.6  | 3.0  | 1.6  |
| Isaac Humphries      | C   | 41 | 12.6 | 8.2  | 5.6  | 68   | 0.0  | 0.0  | -    | 2.1  | 1.5  | 72   | 1.2  | 1.5  | 0.7  | 1.2  | 2.1  |
| Zylan Cheatham       | F   | 41 | 11.8 | 7.6  | 4.1  | 54   | 1.1  | 0.4  | 34   | 4.2  | 3.2  | 76   | 4.1  | 0.8  | 0.9  | 1.9  | 2.8  |
| Flynn Cameron        | G   | 41 | 11.3 | 8.8  | 3.8  | 43   | 4.8  | 1.8  | 37   | 2.5  | 2.0  | 81   | 3.3  | 0.1  | 0.8  | 1.3  | 2.9  |
| Dejan Vasiljevic     | G   | 41 | 10.9 | 9.1  | 3.3  | 36   | 6.5  | 2.3  | 36   | 2.0  | 1.9  | 95   | 1.2  | 0.0  | 0.4  | 0.9  | 2.0  |
| John Jenkins         | G   | 17 | 9.9  | 7.6  | 3.4  | 45   | 6.0  | 2.4  | 40   | 0.8  | 0.7  | 92   | 0.9  | 0.1  | 0.5  | 0.8  | 1.7  |
| Nick Rakocevic       | FC  | 38 | 8.5  | 6.8  | 3.6  | 52   | 1.1  | 0.3  | 27   | 2.0  | 1.1  | 56   | 1.1  | 0.7  | 0.6  | 1.2  | 2.9  |
| Isaac White          | G   | 40 | 4.7  | 4.0  | 1.7  | 42   | 1.9  | 0.7  | 34   | 1.0  | 0.7  | 63   | 1.6  | 0.1  | 0.2  | 0.8  | 1.2  |
| Troy Brown Jnr       | -   | 13 | 4.6  | 5.8  | 1.7  | 28   | 2.8  | 0.7  | 24   | 0.8  | 0.5  | 64   | 1.8  | 0.2  | 0.8  | 0.5  | 1.8  |
| Matt Kenyon          | G   | 40 | 2.0  | 1.7  | 0.7  | 42   | 0.8  | 0.2  | 30   | 0.5  | 0.3  | 63   | 0.5  | 0.0  | 0.4  | 0.3  | 1.1  |
| Blake Jones          | F   | 2  | 1.0  | 0.0  | 0.0  | -    | 0.0  | 0.0  | -    | 1.0  | 1.0  | 100  | 0.0  | 0.0  | 0.0  | 0.0  | 0.0  |
| Michael Harris       | G   | 17 | 0.8  | 1.3  | 0.3  | 23   | 0.8  | 0.2  | 21   | 0.1  | 0.1  | 100  | 0.2  | 0.0  | 0.4  | 0.1  | 0.6  |
| Keanu Rasmussen      | G   | 15 | 0.6  | 0.9  | 0.3  | 28   | 0.2  | 0.0  | -    | 0.1  | 0.1  | 50   | 0.1  | 0.0  | 0.1  | 0.3  | 0.3  |
| Che Brogan           | G   | 4  | 0.0  | 1.0  | 0.0  | -    | 0.3  | 0.0  | -    | 0.0  | 0.0  | -    | 0.3  | 0.0  | 0.0  | 0.0  | 0.0  |
| Deng Manyang         | G   | 1  | 0.0  | 0.0  | 0.0  | -    | 0.0  | 0.0  | -    | 0.0  | 0.0  | -    | 0.0  | 0.0  | 0.0  | 0.0  | 0.0  |
+----------------------+-----+----+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+

Joe Ingles — Player Profile

Full Name: Joseph Howarth Ingles
Pronunciation: ING-uhls
Nicknames: Slow Mo Joe, Jinglin' Joe, Jingles

Position: Small Forward / Power Forward
Shoots: Left
Height / Weight: 2.03m / 99kg
Team: Minnesota Timberwolves

Born: October 2, 1987 — Adelaide, Australia
High School: Lake Ginninderra (Canberra, ACT)
NBA Debut: October 29, 2014
Experience: 12 seasons

Career Highlights

• Eight-year cornerstone with the Utah Jazz — peak playmaking forward in a spread system
• Finished 2nd in Sixth Man of the Year (2021) voting
• One of Australia’s most durable NBA players — 749 career games
• Elite role-player profile: decision-making, spacing, secondary playmaking

+----------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| Category             | Games  | PPG    | RPG    | APG    | FG%    | 3PT%   | FT%    |
+----------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| Career Total         | 749    | 7.7    | 2.9    | 3.5    | 44.8   | 40.9   | 77.5   |
+----------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+

+----------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| Metric               | eFG%   | PER    | WS     | MPG    | Seasons|
+----------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| Career               | 58.3   | 12.4   | 42.2   | 23.5   | 12     |
+----------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+

+----------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| Team                 | Games  | PPG    | RPG    | APG    |
+----------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| Utah Jazz            | 590    | 8.6    | 3.2    | 3.8    |
| Milwaukee Bucks      | 46     | 6.9    | 2.8    | 3.3    |
| Orlando Magic        | 68     | 4.4    | 2.1    | 3.0    |
| Minnesota Timberwolves| 45    | 0.9    | 0.5    | 1.0    |
+----------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+