Anthony Drmic to play more minutes as he builds towards full fitness in Adelaide 36ers’ pre-season
Anthony Drmic will see more court time against New Zealand and Melbourne this week as he builds towards full fitness ahead of Adelaide’s NBL season opener.
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Adelaide 36ers shooter Anthony Drmic will take another step towards regaining full fitness when he plays extended minutes in two practice games this week.
Starting against New Zealand on Tuesday night and then Melbourne United on Friday, Drmic — who had double foot surgery in the off-season — is set to push his case for Joey Wright’s starting five going into the season opener next month.
Drmic played just 16 and 17 minutes in two games against Cairns and Brisbane at the NBL’s pre-season blitz in Tasmania on the weekend, and sat out game three of the Perth series the week before.
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He is expected to see more court time at Titanium Security Arena on Tuesday and the Entertainment Centre on Friday.
Import Ramone Moore and big-man Daniel Johnson are both expected to be rested or play very minimal minutes against the Breakers, but will be back in action against United.
Adelaide lost both games at the blitz but Wright said it served as a valuable education for his team.
“We were able to give guys equal minutes to see where we’re at,” he said.
“The best part of the weekend was it allowed us to see what we need to fix.
“In the first five games (against the Philippines and Perth) that didn’t show but it did in the two games on the weekend. Our reaction to certain things, we went quiet in defence and that affected our offence.”
While Tuesday’s game against New Zealand is at the Sixers’ former home in Findon, Friday night’s clash with Melbourne will be its first at the new base at the Entertainment Centre on Port Road.
The Sixers then fly to Utah on Monday to prepare to play the Jazz in an NBA pre-season game on October 5 before returning for their NBL season opener against the Kings in Sydney on October 12.
reece.homfray@news.com.au