Coach Wells likens record-breaker Cotton to NBA greats
Steve Barrett |
Adelaide 36ers coach Mike Wells expressed his “absolute awe” of Bryce Cotton, even comparing the five-time NBL MVP to NBA luminaries Kobe Bryant, Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley.
Cotton broke the Sixers’ all-time single-game scoring record on Saturday, a mark that has stood for 37 years, when he amassed 53 points in Saturday’s 91-86 win over the Cairns Taipans.
The previous best was 48 points by the late Darryl Pearce against Newcastle in 1988.
Cotton, who signed with Adelaide in May after spending nine years at Perth, is still the competition’s best player by a long way, according to Wells.
“To witness greatness in team sport, I don’t think there’s anything better,” Wells said.
“We’re so fortunate that he decided to stay in this league and we’re really, really fortunate that he’s in Adelaide. I think he looks amazing in blue.
“I’m in absolute awe. He’s the best player in this league – it’s not even close.
“If he’s in the league, he’s the MVP every year – he just is.”
Wells, in his second season in charge of Adelaide, previously spent three decades in the NBA in various assistant roles at six teams, including the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers, where he had a front-row seat to some of the sport’s greats.
“I’ve been very fortunate to see Olajuwon do some things, Charles Barkley’s first game for us in Houston, he had 33 rebounds – that was crazy,” he said.
“Kobe’s last game with the Lakers, he put 60 on us with the Jazz.
“I just hope that everybody can really appreciate what this guy (Cotton) does.”
Wells’ resume includes the 2014-15 season when he was as an assistant to Quin Snyder at the Utah Jazz, where Cotton played 15 NBA games.
“Just to see him (Cotton) and get to know him a few years ago when we had him at Utah for a couple of 10-days (contracts), everything he’s accomplished … I’m in awe,” Wells said.
“When a player slips into the zone, and it’s this early in the season when they don’t really have the game legs under them yet, it’s a really amazing thing.”
Wells said racking up monster tallies is more difficult in the NBL than in the NBA.
NBA games go for 48 minutes (compared to 40 for the NBL) and are generally more open, with a technical foul issued if a player spends more than three seconds in their defensive keyway – a rule the NBL doesn’t have.
“It’s harder to get open in this league than in the NBA because there’s no defensive three-seconds (rule) – the lane has always got bodies in it,” Wells said.
“It’s a true credit for anybody to come even close to 50 in a FIBA/international-type game.
“God, we were just all so fortunate to witness that.”
AAP
