Adelaide 36ers owner Grant Kelley lauds coach Joey Wright and team for surge in crowds and return to finals this season

JOEY Wright was offered a long-term deal over dinner at an Adelaide restaurant and owner Grant Kelley couldn’t be happier with the way things are panning out for his Adelaide 36ers.

Nathan Sobey exploded with three consecutive three-pointers in the final quarter of Adelaide’s NBL win over Perth on Saturday night. Picture: Kelly Barnes (AAP).

A RETURN to finals and high-octane game style vindicates Adelaide’s decision to hand coach Joey Wright a five-year contract extension last season, owner Grant Kelley says.

As the 36ers prepare for game two of their semi-final series against Perth tomorrow night which has them on the cusp of the grand final, Kelley said regardless of the result he was proud of the team which has drawn the third biggest crowds in the competition this season.

“Joey is an inspirational leader, as chairman and an owner you not only want a good on-the-court coach but a person of substance and character, and Joey has that in abundance,” he said.

“It starts with Joey and Kevin Brooks and Tracy York, the whole coaching staff and the team itself is amazing.”

Kelley revealed the deal which will see Wright in charge until 2022 was struck over dinner at Gaucho’s restaurant in the city 18 months ago.

“I just said ‘what’s it going to take to keep you in Adelaide?’ and he said ‘I want to stay for five years’ and we didn’t even discuss it, we just said ‘done’ and moved on,” Kelley said.

“He’s the sort of guy that that’s all you need to do, and he’s led from the front and hopefully we’ve given him the longevity to build a program that could ultimately become a dynasty.

“The objective was not to start winning championships, it was to restore the Sixers to their rightful place and pound-for-pound there is no basketball club in Australia with more impact on the community than the Adelaide 36ers.

“We have a responsibility to the people of South Australia to create a team that challenges for the title every year, we may not win it, but we are challenging and we do it honourably.”

Kelley believes the club has the best group of young Australians in the league, complimented by three imports who were carefully hand-picked in the off-season after Wright flew to Singapore for a strategic meeting.

“We wanted to recruit players who stood for something, because our view was down the stretch these were the guys who would dig deep,” Kelley said.

“We got very close last year but didn’t finish the job, so we wanted to recruit guys with the character of Josh Childress or energy and positive vibe of Shannon Shorter and calmness under pressure of Ramone Moore.

“Those imports have made me as a South Australian very proud and hopefully they play for our club for many years.”

Wright paid tribute to Kelley and his influence on the club at the Sixers’ MVP night last month. Kelley doesn’t go into the rooms pre-game and only briefly speaks with Wright post-match.

“I just want the guys to play and I’ve tried to be there for the guys when they’ve needed me,” Kelley said.

“I viewed it as any other business proposition which was to recruit the best person, set the targets, give them resources they need, and then get out of the way.”

[e-mail]