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\u201cHe hasn\u2019t done enough as a basketball player for me to respect his opinion,\u201d Cotton told 10 News.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t usually listen to anybody \u2013 especially not him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, with Adelaide preparing to face the South East Melbourne Phoenix in a semi-final series, Lowery revisited the 36ers while appearing on The Run Home with Kymbo & Chad.<\/p>\n
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 22: Bryce Cotton of the 36ers (R) drives at the basket during the round 10 NBL match between South East Melbourne Phoenix and Adelaide 36ers at John Cain Arena on November 22, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Graham Denholm\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
With the season series tied 2-2, Chad Cornes asked for Lowery\u2019s prediction.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Sixers won the first two encounters this year and the Phoenix have won the last two. What\u2019s your prediction for Tuesday night?\u201d Cornes asked.<\/p>\n
Lowery didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me just correct you there, Chad. The Phoenix beat the living daylights out of them the last two times by over 20 points,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy prediction is \u2013 and as much as I\u2019d like to see it go the distance \u2013 I think it\u2019s over in two games.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think South East Melbourne have a style of play and they\u2019ve got the horses that can run all day. They can get nine or 10 guys in double figures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not relying on one particular guy. They\u2019re going to wear you down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roth: “I’m a crappy coach!” | 00:50<\/p>\n
Lowery then reached for a trademark analogy.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know when you go to Spain and try to run with the bulls? All those tourists show up thinking, \u2018Yeah, I can run with the bulls.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cYou feel good for maybe the first 100 metres \u2013 and then next thing you know, you\u2019ve been gored.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s going to happen. I think Adelaide lose in two.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cornes pressed Lowery on his lack of belief in the 36ers and what key area is the biggest concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s your biggest issue with Adelaide? Is it the way they defend?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re small as well. And the way they defend is very ordinary,\u201d Lowery said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though I felt they needed more firepower, they went and got John Jenkins \u2013 another guard. The backcourt was already crowded with Bryce, Flynn Cameron, DJ Vasiljevic and Isaac White.<\/p>\n
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 07: Bryce Cotton of the 36ers and Zylan Cheatham of the 36ers celebrate winning the round 20 NBL match between Melbourne United and Adelaide 36ers at John Cain Arena, on February 07, 2026, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Pockett\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cBryce is going to play 40 minutes a game, and now you add Jenkins. I feel like there\u2019s too much, and he (Mike Wells) has a propensity to play small ball \u2013 four guards and one big.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lowery also questioned Adelaide\u2019s frontcourt output.<\/p>\n
\u201cZylan Cheatham is only averaging 12 points a game \u2013 he needs to bump that up significantly,\u201d Lowery said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd between (Nick) Rakocevic and Isaac Humphries, those two need to give you 25.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsaac Humphries \u2013 I don\u2019t know if he\u2019s carrying an injury, not that anybody cares.\u2013 but he\u2019s been down in form for the last month.\u201d<\/p>\n
With so many comments from Lowery about the 36ers and their chances, one would catch the attention of Kym Dillon in particular.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey Damo, was that a little drive-by when you said the Phoenix don\u2019t rely on one player? Was that a crack at Bryce Cotton and the 36ers?\u201d<\/p>\n
Phoenix soar to earn semi final spot | 00:46<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, maybe a little one,\u201d Lowery replied.<\/p>\n
Given the history between the pair, Dillon asked if the feud had cooled.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you broken bread yet? Have you caught up since early in the season?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. We\u2019ve never spoken,\u201d Lowery said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know each other. We know who each other are and there\u2019s varying degrees of respect between us.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Bryce is an out-and-out champion, and he thinks I\u2019m an out-and-out clown. That\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Lowery, the issue remains structural.<\/p>\n
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 24: Bryce Cotton and Mike Wells of the 36ers speaks to the media during the NBL Finals Series launch at NEP Studios on February 24, 2026 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI just feel like Adelaide are still very Bryce-centric, and that was enough to get them second on the ladder. That\u2019s fine in the regular season,\u201d Lowery said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the postseason, when teams can attack you in a multitude of ways in a series, it turns into a chess match.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel Adelaide are going to need more than just Bryce \u2013 especially against the Phoenix.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it was Perth, no problem. If it was Melbourne United, no problem. But against South East Melbourne, it can\u2019t just be Bryce.\u201d<\/p>\n
The series looms as one of the matchups of the season, with second and third on the ladder battling for a Grand Final berth.<\/p>\n
Adelaide hold home-court advantage in Game 1 \u2013 and Game 3 if required \u2013 while the Phoenix will host Game 2 at John Cain Arena.<\/p>\n
The 36ers enter fresh following the FIBA break, while the Phoenix carry momentum after a statement win over Perth.<\/p>\n
Boomers beat Guam in WC qualifier | 01:05<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Damon Lowery\u2019s criticism of the Adelaide 36ers throughout the season has sparked an ongoing feud with six-time NBL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-524527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}