Scott Ninnis and the Adelaide 36ers are no strangers to having pain inflicted by the Perth Wildcats, but Thursday's home loss is something the interim coach won't stand for as the Sixers attempt to break from mediocrity.
Ninnis is now four games into his second stint as a head coach at the 36ers, having replaced CJ Bruton for the rest of NBL24. His first stint ended 13 years ago.
He is an Adelaide Hall of Famer so when he speaks about wanting the club he holds dear getting back to greatness, it comes from deep in his heart.
What Ninnis saw firsthand on Thursday night at Adelaide Entertainment Centre was a clear example of why the Wildcats continue to be so successful, and why the 36ers remain without a championship since 2002.
Perth ended up winning 100-82, but led by 30 early in the fourth quarter. There's so many areas you can point to starting with the obvious of the 'Cats going 16-of-17 at the foul line to 12-of-25 from the 36ers.
The Wildcats hit 12 three-pointers to four and had Bryce Cotton, Kristian Doolittle, Alex Sarr, Jesse Wagstaff and Keanu Pinder contributing strongly while Adelaide got little out of anyone but Isaac Humphries with 24 points.
Perth remains solid in second spot at 11-7 and Adelaide are anchored to bottom at 5-12, but it's not something Ninnis will stand for, especially being outscored 28 points to nine in the third quarter.
"The disappointing thing was some of the body language in that third quarter and some of the lack of intensity to get out to wide open shooters," Ninnis said.
"That's bad habits that we've had that I just won't accept, that's just not who we are as a group now. To slip back into some of those habits, that was hugely disappointing from my point of view.
"We are not a club that is going to accept mediocrity moving forward for the rest of this year and moving into the future."
The only positive Ninnis can take is the opportunity to quickly bounce back in Wollongong against the other team with a new coach, the Illawarra Hawks under Justin Tatum on New Year's Eve.
"The opportunity presents itself now and any time you get your arse kicked, to have the opportunity to play three days later is a wonderful thing," Ninnis said.
"You have a very quick turnaround to try to correct what just happened so we'll look at this game and then we have to be focused on Illawarra straightaway.
"We'll have one short training session on Saturday, then we travel and I like the fact we now get a chance to hopefully exorcise these demons."
