Basketball On The Internet.

DON'T believe for a second there won't be a backlash for the Adelaide 36ers after their unprecedented dismissal of newly-appointed head coach Scott Ninnis yesterday, just six months after he was feted, celebrated and appointed the NBL club's head coach for two years.

The last time a 36ers management pulled such an unprecedented move was back in 1986 when then coach Ken Cole was sidelined for allegedly smoking a marijuana joint and the players rallied to have him reinstated in time to win the championship.

Yesterday's train-wreck of a press conference by Sixers CEO Nic Barbato and GM of Basketball Operations Matt Weston had past players phoning each other seeking clarification whether Ninnis had done something untoward to warrant his dismissal.

Clearly, he had not.

Remember, Ninnis' best friend is 36ers icon Brett Maher, currently employed by the club to run holiday camps, coaching clinics and act as a Sixers ambassador on home game nights.

Maher played 525 NBL matches for Adelaide, won two Larry Sengstock Medals in three championships, has had his #5 singlet retired and even had the court at Adelaide Entertainment Centre named after him.

If he decides to walk away, the shockwaves will reverberate near and far, just as they have behind the scenes with past players and even coaches.

Barbato umming and arring through the awkward 10-minute press conference yesterday before this: "We just felt like the standards that we had set as an organisation to reset the basketball culture to get back to winning ways just weren't quite there."

What standards? Ninnis turned the club back into a winner during his interim role last season, did he not? Of course, any elaboration on what those standards might have been were not addressed, though there was a less-than-subtle late attempt to diminish what he achieved last season.

It was time for Weston to jump in when this less-than-dynamic duo was questioned about Ninnis being undermined by the appointment of his assistant Mike Wells, an American with a supposedly impressive resume that does not include head coaching anywhere.

A career NBA assistant coach coming to Adelaide to be an assistant in the NBL? Seriously? 

Why anyone believed he was even needed remains a mystery, except to Weston who said he was a good resource for Ninnis but: "I just don't think that's been activated the way I'd like it to be."

So it appears in Mr Weston, the 36ers have JVG 2.0 

He remained resolute about the decision to dispense with Ninnis' services.

"It's better to make the decision and say we're not seeing what I want to see, what I expect the standards in a professional team in the NBL in 2025," he said.

Asked whether he was butting heads with Ninnis, which is probable considering the coach wished to retain his assistant from last season, another former past 36ers star Graham Kubank, and was told no.

"I've obviously got the way I want the club to go, where I want it to go and you're always going to have robust discussions," Weston said.

"Just the standards of where we want the team to be. The detail that lays underneath that, how you want to prepare a team. I'm not seeing that and that's going to be really important for us to be able to compete with other NBL teams.

"And these are basic standards that any NBL team would have. And I'm just not seeing that." 

Elaboration? No.

Weston, appointed after Ninnis signed a fresh two-year contract in February, brings a veritable suitcase full of NBL assistant-coaching knowledge.

It's a great comfort to us all he knows what he wants in Adelaide, though judging by today's social media and fan backlash, he may not understand what Adelaide wants.