Vasiljevic admits 36ers players were shocked by decision to sack Scott Ninnis

Adelaide 36ers head coach Scott Ninnis has been sacked just two months into his two-year contract at the club.

Ninnis took over from head coach CJ Burton during the back half of the 2023/24 NBL season. After some positive results late in the campaign, Ninnis received a two-year deal with the 36ers for the 2024/25 season and beyond.

However, the club opted to part ways with Ninnis on Monday morning, and the players were blindsided by the decision as they received the news shortly after during their training workout.

Ninnis will be replaced by Mike Wells who had been his assistant.

Dejan 'DJ' Vasiljevic was one of the players to hear the news first-hand from his now former coach Ninnis. He was surprised to not have been given a heads up about Ninnis considering he was a small part of his decision to stay.

“Yeah we were all mid-lift and about halfway through nearly finishing up and then bang, Scott Ninnis came in and said he was fired, so yeah, it was just a great start to the Monday,” Vasiljevic said on SEN SA Breakfast.

“I think everyone was more shocked than anything really, I felt like I got kicked in the nuts and just couldn’t believe what went on.

“I don’t think I need to be consulted but it would have been nice to have been given a heads up, especially myself and Isaac (Humphries) considering we are the two guys who are on long-term deals and being one of the main players on this team.

“We weren’t consulted about the imports before they actually signed, so knowing our head coach Scotty had been fired would have been good too, but again that’s a decision made by the front office, and they had to do what they had to do.”

Vasiljevic admits both he and Humphries re-signed with the 36ers with the comfort of knowing that Ninnis was there to lead them, only for that to now not be the case.

“Yeah 100 per cent (we signed knowing Scott would be the coach),” he added.

“Isaac likes stability and knowing who he’s going to play for, hence why he re-signed. I kind of re-signed before Scott did because I love the city, love the fans. Everyone’s treated me really good since I got here so I wanted to repay the favour but also knowing I’d at least get Scott for two years was kind of my impression.

“But again, the front office made the decision they had to, and I think having someone replace him who’s had 30 years in the NBA isn’t bad at all. I think we will continue to move into the direction we have, and we’ve got six and a half weeks before our first game against the Kings, so will do all we can do put this behind us and kind of keep pushing forward.”

Whilst Vasiljevic was thrown by the decision and shocked that it was received six weeks out from the new season commencing, Vasiljevic is confident that this change won’t affect the upcoming season.

“We have to refocus and get back to what we want and that’s trying to prepare for the first game. We kind of have to let things slow tricker because it’s happened, and we can’t control the controllable. We’ve got to get back what we do best and that’s play basketball and try get this team to the play offs hopefully come this year,” Vasiljevic said further.

“On the court I honestly didn’t see an issue, I think we were three or four steps forward because I know a lot of teams can be a few steps back, but I think we were making the right strides. We still had the two imports to come in, but I think we were moving in a great direction. Now again, I don’t know what goes on behind the scenes so I can’t comment on that. I think (Scotty) on court was doing really great.

“I did call my agent as soon as it happened to just kind of get his opinion. I’ve committed for three years, and I think the team we have can push something like for a play-off push. I don’t know who those guys were discussing their futures, you just put it aside. We get paid to play basketball and that’s really it.

“Honestly I hope all fans are listening, just because Scotty’s gone doesn’t mean we are going to turn bad. He’s been replaced by a 30 year veteran that has been in the NBA as a coach. We’ve built the team; the front office has built the team to compete at the top, so things are very bright. I have more confidence in this team than I did last year so I’m just going to keep doing what I have to do, Issac will keep pushing. We’re going to be really good this year and I hope the fans can kind of see that even though what happened yesterday.

“I don’t want the fans to tear up their memberships or stop coming to games. You don’t know what’s going to happen, you just trust the process and give us time. Just trust us and believe in us so we can keep pushing forward, because Adelaide deserves the best and we will do all we can to make sure that happens.”

The 2024/25 NBL season kicks off for the 36ers against the Sydney Kings on September 22.