Chance pours 'Cole' water on 'expert' Anthony critics

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Rookie NBL head coach Jacob Chance dismissed criticism of his star import, Cole Anthony ($300,000), after the gap-year NBA guard led Melbourne United to a 96-91 road win against Adelaide on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, in Round 4 of NBL27.

Anthony, 26, has come under fire from "experts" on social media after his high-scoring, less-facilitating performances in United's three losses. Against Adelaide, he had 24 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals as Melbourne survived a ferocious 36ers fourth-quarter comeback.

"Do I think social media and fans is fair?" Chance said.

"Cole Anthony leads our team in potential assists at 10 a game and had similar tonight.

"He's got a gravity about him and I think at halftime we had 16 assists on 20 field goals.

"It's all I care about."

United led by 20 with 30 seconds to go in the second quarter, dominating Trevor Gleeson's wounded 36ers on both ends of the floor. But six-time MVP Bryce Cotton ($473,900) and surging import Nick Rakocevic ($188,400) dragged Adelaide back into the game. Both had 33 points. Adelaide closed to within three points down the stretch but fell short. John Jenkins III ($152,100) was the only other 36er to reach double figures.

@nblfacts reported Rakocevic is the first Adelaide 36ers player to have at least 29 points and 14 rebounds in consecutive games since Mark Davis in 1992.

"It always feels good coming and playing here," Rakocevic said,

"I love the environment, the Entertainment Centre. It's always just a blessing to play out in front of 10,000 fans.

"Obviously, we didn't get the result we wanted, but I feel like coach said it, and I agree, the second half was incredible.

"The fight, to come back, to not quit on each other, to hold people accountable and then those people going out there and doing what they had to do. I was just super proud of the guys.

"I think that if we play like that second half, it's a different story for us. I'm really excited about that.

"There are some things that we need to clean up, but I'm really proud of the guys and how they battled in the second half.

"I think that it's great that I'm playing pretty well, but at the end of the day, I came back here to win a championship.

"That was my reasoning for coming back here. We were so close last year, and that was the main thing.

"So although I'm playing well, to me it's not enough. I could do so much better. I could do way more, starting with my free throws. I'll bring that up again.

"It's always good, and all, when you're playing well, and the ball's going in, but I came here to win with this group of guys, and that's my main focus.

"I'm just trying to rally behind everybody else because I know what everybody else can do.

"We just haven't shown it as a team yet.

"But like I said, I'm fully confident that we're going to figure that out."

Twenty-point leads early in a ball game are always dangerous, especially on the road.

"I loved our intent and urgency for the first three quarters," Chance said.

"We put ourselves in a really commanding position, not too dissimilar to the last game we played.

So, obviously pleasing to get a different result than the last one.

"But, you know, we've got a lot of work to be done in that space. I'll always want to be the team that's in complete control. Credit to our guys' intent, urgency, approach, shootaround, film, practice after the last game. All those things add up, and I think you saw the outcome of that in the first three quarters tonight.

"This building has been notorious for being difficult to play in, and we knew it was coming.

"You try not to talk too much about it because you just want to stay in control.

"But, yeah, to make some big plays when we needed to - momentum is a fascinating thing in sport - and to handle that when we needed to, come up with a couple of loose balls, make a couple of big shots, was great."

Gleeson is without centre Isaac Humphries ($265,300), guard Flynn Cameron ($241,700) and elite defender Bul Kuol ($156,100). He's brought in three-time NBL champion Corey Webster ($97,000) to plug some of those holes.

"It was two different teams," Gleeson said.

"The second half was outstanding, just the intensity on defence. We didn't have that in the first half, and they were scoring at will.

"I don't know if the penny dropped. I don't know. But if we don't work hard enough, we haven't got a shot here at winning, especially when we're down limited bodies. We got outworked at home.

"Second half, I'm really proud of the team. Could have easily gone a different direction. Fought back from 20 down, got it to a one-possession game. Cole hit a big three to get that up. We kept on fighting and fighting.

"I love that fighting spirit, but it wasn't long enough for four quarters."

Gleeson admitted he was perplexed by the first 20 minutes of import Zylan Cheatham ($339,500), which was best described as quiet, with no look to score. But he exploded into life in the fourth and was part of the 36ers' 32-20 quarter win.

"I'm not happy about it," Gleeson said.

"I don't know. If I had the ability to mind-power, I'm probably in the wrong business.

I could make millions and millions and millions doing that if I come up with a solution.

"But we want everybody to be a threat. If you're not looking at the rim, it's pretty hard, and they play off you.

"He had three shots in the first three quarters, and then he's had five in the second. He's getting dunks, he's rebounding, he's great. That's the Zylan that I love, okay?

"And I don't think I've ever told him not to shoot the ball.

"I don't care if he's open for a three - shoot the goddamn ball.

"So, yeah, it's something that we've got to talk about and sit down and understand. But we need him to be aggressive, without question.

"We can't rely on Bryce and Nick every day to get 30 points.

"We need everyone to step up and do their part."

What you need to know

• Melbourne United beat Adelaide 36ers 96-91 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre in NBL27 Round 4.
• Melbourne won the first quarter 31-21 and the second 25-17 to lead 56-38 at half-time, before Adelaide took the third 21-20 and the fourth 32-20.
• Bryce Cotton ($473,900) and Nick Rakocevic ($188,400) scored 33 each for Adelaide, Cotton on 11-from-22 with six threes and Rakocevic on 15-from-25 with 14 rebounds, and Cole Anthony ($300,000) top-scored for Melbourne with 24 on 6-from-14.
• The game was decided at the free-throw line. Melbourne made 20 of 23 and Adelaide nine of 16, an 11-point gap in a five-point game, with both sides making 10 of 30 from three.
• Cotton and Rakocevic scored 66 of Adelaide's 91 points. The other nine 36ers who played combined for 25 on 10-from-29.

Melbourne United

• Cole Anthony ($300,000) top-scored with 24 points on 6-from-14, including 4-from-7 from three and 8-from-10 at the line, with five rebounds and four assists.
• Luke Travers ($292,900) had 16 points and seven rebounds on 6-from-13, including 3-from-8 from three.
• Josh Oduro ($277,000) scored 16 on a perfect 6-from-6, plus 4-from-5 at the line, in 18 minutes before fouling out.
• Joe Ingles ($300,000) added 11 points and four assists off the bench on 5-from-7.
• Kyle Bowen ($110,600) scored eight off the bench on 3-from-6 in under 12 minutes.
• Sam Waardenburg ($277,500) had six points, four rebounds and three assists on 2-from-9.
• Shea Ili ($175,300) had six assists off the bench and went 0-from-3 from the field.
• Melbourne shot 33-from-68 from the field, 10-from-30 from three and 20-from-23 at the line, with 36 rebounds, 24 assists and 11 turnovers.

Adelaide 36ers

• Bryce Cotton ($473,900) scored 33 with nine assists in 38 minutes, going 11-from-22, 6-from-13 from three and 5-from-6 at the line.
• Nick Rakocevic ($188,400) had 33 points and 14 rebounds, seven of them offensive, on 15-from-25, but made three of eight free throws.
• John Jenkins III ($152,100) scored 10 off the bench on 3-from-8, all three makes from deep, with three blocks.
• Zylan Cheatham ($339,500) had eight points, eight assists and six rebounds on 4-from-9.
• Keanu Rasmussen ($69,000) scored four on 2-from-7 in 16 minutes.
• Jacob Rigoni ($69,000) had three points and two steals in 23 minutes and was a team-best plus-9.
• Corey Webster ($97,000) played under five minutes off the bench without a shot attempt, in his first game since signing as an injury replacement.
• Adelaide shot 36-from-76 from the field, 10-from-30 from three and 9-from-16 at the line, with 41 rebounds, 23 assists and 11 turnovers.