Dech a "true professional"

Mike Wells might have been just as happy to get Sunday Dech back on court for his contributions as to get him out of his coaches' meetings, but what he showed on Friday night in Perth was how valuable he is to the Adelaide 36ers.

A lot was made of the 36ers missing Kendric Davis for two games with suspension, Montrezl Harrell for three and then DJ Vasiljevic for five with a hamstring injury, but Wells always knew they wouldn’t reach their peak until Dech returned.

He injured a hamstring against the Wildcats in Adelaide back on December 8, but the renowned defensive specialist returned in Monday night's home win against the Illawarra Hawks, and then was back in his hometown on Friday.

The 36ers might have lost in Perth but Dech's importance and value to the group was also on show as the 172-game veteran and Paris Olympian played 20 minutes for nine points, two rebounds and two assists on a perfect 4/4 shooting.

He was also instrumental in the defensive job the Sixers did to 'hold' Bryce Cotton to 22 points on 6/23 shooting with Adelaide outscoring Perth by eight points in Dech's time on the court.

While Wells is delighted to have him, he also joked afterwards he's just as happy to have him out of his coach meetings.

"I was really sick of Sunday being in all my coaches meetings so we had to get him in uniform," Wells quipped.

"We had to rush him back and I didn’t care what was going to happen, but we had to get him out of the coaches meetings. It was driving me crazy."

On a more serious front, Wells has been tremendously impressed with everything about Dech from the moment they first came in contact with one another once he got back from representing South Sudan at Paris 2024.

Wells has started Dech most of the season, has given him the biggest defensive roles and will now do so again the rest of the way, but he also likes the way Lat Mayen stepped up in his absence.

"I would start with the kind of character he is, I mean he's the best. He brings it, he's a true professional, he takes care of his body and he's been a leader since the day I got here," Wells said.

"He takes the other team's best offensive player every night and is unwavering with that. He goes out there and is just a true professional of his craft.

"In his absence I've got to give Lat a tonne of credit. He has jumped in there, taken that role and tried to be disruptive, and do those things and now we've come out the other side with two guys that can defend out there on the perimeter, and cause havoc.

"But as for Sunday, what he does for this team is a level of professionalism that you just don’t see every day."

Throw in what a competitor Dech is and what a team man he is, and nobody would have found it harder being sidelined for seven games than he did with the hamstring injury.

He can't be happier to be back to help the 36ers reach their potential the rest of NBL25.

"First of all, it's been great to be back with the guys after a long absence and it was tough sitting and watching because at the end of the day I love basketball, and I want to play with my teammates," Dech said.

"But you've got to respect the human process of an injury and not rush back so thanks to the medical team for getting myself back ahead of schedule.

"Right now that I'm back, we have our full team and the goal is to win these next games and it's important we compete and stick together.

"Our best is the best in the league, and that's what we do and we have an opportunity to redeem this one in Cairns on Sunday."

Dech isn’t focused on anything but now leaving Perth and travelling up to Cairns on Saturday with the 36ers, to then face a Taipans team on Sunday having beaten the Hawks and Bullets, and narrowly lost to the Phoenix and Kings in their past four games.

"We just follow the protocols placed ahead of us by our staff and it's a lot of hydration, and getting good food and sleep in which are the staples," Dech said.

"For us it's just getting mentally fresh as well off the back of a loss and it is a little bit harder than when you win, but we have to squash this one now and put all our attention to Cairns who are playing well.

"We'll be ready to play and we're all professionals, and want to win and that's the goal to get up to Cairns and get the win."