Now, the band is back together.<\/p>\n
After falling agonisingly short of a first title in nearly a quarter of a century last season<\/a>, optimism in South Australia that the championship drought may finally break will be sky high.<\/p>\n On the other side of the Nullarbor, the Wildcats fanbase’s immense frustration at the failure to hold on to Cotton \u2014 and watching him tear up the NBL in another uniform \u2014 will only grow as they watch another Perth legend working for a historic rival.<\/p>\n Bryce Cotton playing in the NBL grand final series against the Sydney Kings in April. (AAP: Matt Turner)<\/p>\n Remarkable turnaround<\/p>\n As recently as two years ago, Adelaide fans would have been forgiven for thinking success was an awfully long way off.<\/p>\n The 36ers slumped to a ninth-place finish in 2023\u201324, their sixth consecutive year finishing outside the play-offs.<\/p>\n But 12 months ago everything changed when the team landed Cotton in a staggering coup<\/a>.<\/p>\n The dynamic guard, who by that point was a five-time Most Valuable Player, helped cement 36ers games as one of the hottest tickets in town.<\/p>\n Most importantly, his performance on the court in season one was as advertised, if not even better.<\/p>\n Cotton produced career-best assist, steal and minutes-per-game numbers while averaging more than 26 points, leading Adelaide to a 23\u201310 regular season record.<\/p>\n It was so close to a fairytale finish, too.<\/p>\n Mike Wells quit as head coach of the 36ers last month after two seasons. (AAP: Matt Turner)<\/p>\n Against the Sydney Kings in the deciding game of the grand final series, the 36ers led by six points with a little more than two minutes left and were still up by four into the final 40 seconds.<\/p>\n But they coughed up the lead, with Sydney sending the game to an overtime period they dominated to secure the championship.<\/p>\n While that meant the wait for a title continued, the reuniting of Cotton and Gleeson \u2014 replacing the quitting Mike Wells<\/a> \u2014 will have Adelaide fans confident of going one better.<\/p>\n “It’s a very exciting time for the whole club,” general manager Matt Weston said at a press conference on Friday.<\/p>\n Fierce competition for title<\/p>\n As strong as the 36ers look, they are far from alone in having serious championship ambitions.<\/p>\n Sydney is gunning for consecutive titles with their own combination of superstar and iconic coach in Xavier Cooks and Brian Goorjian, while South East Melbourne, Perth and Melbourne United were all strong performers last season as well.<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/043749b016236637a20bf2077e7e295c.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/f3180d53abc723b6556cb51137f2a723.jpeg\")
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