Adelaide star DJ Vasiljevic has firmly denied reports of a rift with Mike Wells, declaring there is \u201cno divide\u201d between the pair.<\/p>\n
Vasiljevic conceded he regrets his public comments last week, where he said Wells \u201chas just got to chill out\u201d in relation to a technical foul he received against the Phoenix.<\/p>\n
But the 28-year-old rejected claims the situation escalated at the team hotel, saying reports of a confrontation are inaccurate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s just Matt Logue and CODE Sports trying to create something that\u2019s so irrelevant. I\u2019ll tell you right now there is no divide,\u201d Vasiljevic told the media on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou probably read me, Mike, Marko (Marinovic \u2013 assistant coach) and BC (Bryce Cotton) sat in the lobby. Yeah, we did. And I can go get CCTV footage if you want me to. We just sat there having a chat about the game plan and we knew we lost a series 3-1 against them (Sydney).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to know what we could do a bit better. And yeah, it was nothing. There was no going at each other or negativity. It was more like \u2018how can we help the team push the needle forward?\u2019 and obviously now we\u2019ve just got to do that in Game 2.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Vasiljevic said he made a mistake by \u201cgoing public\u201d with his dissatisfaction regarding the technical foul, but stressed the importance of the entire club keeping each other accountable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI shouldn\u2019t have gone public with it. But again I\u2019ve been part of the media now and when I get asked the question it\u2019s honesty,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that was me getting a \u2018t\u2019, he\u2019s (Wells) going to tell me the same thing. It\u2019s holding each other accountable. Doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s me, if it\u2019s Mike, if it\u2019s our team manager \u2026 we\u2019re all in this together.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ship doesn\u2019t sink one way or another. We got to keep it afloat together. And if we hold everyone accountable, that\u2019s the only way we\u2019re going to get better.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo those comments, I shouldn\u2019t have said it, but it was nothing negative to Mike.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vasiljevic said he and Wells had discussed the comments, before doubling down on his support for the coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was just like \u2026 he knows I\u2019m in the media space and I\u2019m an honest person and maybe I should have worded it a little differently,\u201d Vasiljevic added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you saw my reaction, Bryce\u2019s reaction, it\u2019s the heat in the moment. We got mad. But again, it\u2019s holding people accountable because who knows, what if it came to a one-point game, that tech could have mattered.<\/p>\n
\u201cMike\u2019s got our full support. We play for him, we play for the organisation, we play for the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s done a fantastic job. It\u2019s hard taking a playing team last year to finishing second. It\u2019s easy when you got the best player, but you also got to incorporate little bits and recruit and he\u2019s done a fantastic job with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re in the grand final. We\u2019re trying to compete for a championship. You\u2019ve got to give credit where credit is due. Mike\u2019s done a fantastic job with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adelaide hosts Sydney in Game 2 on Friday night at a sold out Adelaide Entertainment Centre, live on ESPN.<\/p>\n
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