Adelaide’s Kendric Davis reflects on Melbourne crowd clash, how ban affected 36ers, ahead of JCA return
Adelaide star Kendric Davis has candidly revealed his thoughts on the Melbourne crowd melee and his subsequent two-game ban ahead of the Sixers’ first return to Melbourne since the incident.
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Kendric Davis “couldn’t care less” about the scrutiny on Adelaide’s first return to Melbourne since last month’s ugly crowd incident, the on-fire 36er hellbent on repaying the Sixers’ faith after a suspension that “put our team in harm’s way”.
The NBL Tribunal was told Davis was racially abused by spectators during the John Cain Arena blow up against Melbourne United, which resulted in bans for both he (two games) and fellow star import Montrezl Harrell (three games).
While the 25-year-old felt provoked, the NBL MVP candidate has had time to reflect while on the sidelines and admits he could have handled his side of things better.
“We know the situation we put ourselves in was all controllable at the end of the day,” Davis, whose team lost three straight before last weekend’s win over New Zealand, said.
“Trez lost his cool, I lost my cool and we put our team in harm’s way because we was out … (I) felt like I let down the team.
“We lose two, then I came back, things were looking great against Perth and then Sunday (Dech) goes out (hamstring), so now you down three starters and then DJ (Vasiljevic) goes out (hamstring) and you down four starters.
“But we made our bed for it and now we gotta fight our way out.”
That fight will continue Saturday night against South East Melbourne (rather than United) and, given the Phoenix fans’ growing distaste for their cross-town rivals, Davis might even get a respectful applause. Expect that to fade quickly if he continues the scoring spree that has produced three straight 30-point games.
The Brash Brothers, Davis and Harrell, reunited last weekend to lay waste to New Zealand, combining for 57 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists in an 18-point win.
KD — along with every other 36ers fan — is glad to have his big running mate back on court.
“I call him Monsta and he calls me Killa K, so it works great — He’s a monster and I try to be a killer,” Davis said of the growing on-and-off-court bond between the pair.
“We both fiery competitors, we both live, breathe and die basketball, we both super passionate.
“We both want to win at the highest level and we push each other to be better.
“We know the expectations we have on ourselves and the organisation and we take pride in it.
“You saw his first game back (21 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists). I think he was a little rusty and was still able to make a huge impact.
“Now we gotta start stacking wins and make a push.”
After an 0-5 start and a coaching change, the rejuvenated Phoenix now represent one of the toughest tasks in the NBL — one Davis says his squad is more than up to, despite the absence of Dech and Vasiljevic.
“Now they’re on a winning streak (win three of past four) and they’re playing great,” Davis said.
“We knew when they were 0-5 that’s not who they were.
“We knew they still had a very talented roster that takes time to jell.
“They’re figuring it out and we’ve just got to try to make it hard on them.
“I think we’ve shown we can beat anybody anywhere and we went to Illawarra and got a huge win over one of the best teams. We beat Sydney, one of the best teams in the league.
“We’ve got a couple key pieces out but we believe, healthy and whole, we are right there as one of the best teams in the league.”
With the JCA roof to open Friday night for basketball under the stars, Davis joked he was “very nervous” about his first open-air game.
“I’ve never done it in my life and I’m worried about the sun, I’m worried about everything about the game, and I’m worried about my eyes, most importantly,” he said.
“Nah, nah, I’ll be fine, it’s still basketball at the end of day. It’s cool. I’ve seen it in EuroLeague a lot.”
‘PSYCHOLOGY’ UNDER THE STARS AS PHOENIX COACH PILES PRESSURE ON SIXERS
The mind games began a week out as South East Melbourne coach Josh King’s cheeky one-liner signalled Adelaide’s first trip back to Melbourne since the infamous Affray at JCA will be no ordinary night.
And not just because the Phoenix and 36ers will do battle under the stars with the John Cain Arena roof to remain open.
“Every game’s got a story, this is the building they had their incident, so they’ll be wanting to get back at Melbourne, even though it wasn’t us,” King offered last Sunday after his team smacked Melbourne United to sneak into the top-6.
It might have seemed a throwaway line at the time and it even drew a few light chortles from those who heard.
But, as Adelaide plays down the significance of the occasion, the shock scenes between fans and players at JCA on November 17 that resulted in multi-game bans for both Harrell and Davis, amid allegations of spectator racism, remain one of the biggest stories in the NBL, over a month later.
And, given the two teams are separated by just 0.39 per cent on the NBL ladder, you can bet King, the man who has orchestrated a stunning turnaround in the Phoenix’s fortunes since he arrived in late October, knew what he was doing.
“It’s all psychology, right?” King said Friday.
“Obviously the event, if you want to call it, wasn’t against us, but it took place in this building, so I’m sure there’s a little bit of extra motivation there on their end,
“At the end of the day, that’s all outside noise, we have to worry about playing the game and I’m sure they will too.”
King heaped the pressure on by anointing the Sixers as “the most talented team in the league” other than Sydney.
“The plan is to get after them. They can’t be comfortable. They’re a very talented team.”
The Phoenix had a test run at JCA on Friday afternoon, star import Matt Hurt getting a taste of a 35C Melbourne scorcher as the roof parted.
“I think it’s gonna be dope. First reaction was, ‘it’s hot’, but obviously we play at a better time than it is right now, so I’m just excited to play out in the air and roof open,” Hurt said.
Hurt, fourth in the NBL in scoring at 20.1 per game, will do battle with fellow elite big man Harrell — third at 20.3.
“He’s a great player, he’s been the NBA for however many years it is, I’m excited for the matchup, (but) the team (Adelaide) is pretty good with him and Davis together,” Hurt said.
Originally published as Adelaide’s Kendric Davis reflects on Melbourne crowd clash, how ban affected 36ers, ahead of JCA return
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