Laid back Cameron putting team success first

Flynn Cameron is a laid back guy. So laid back in fact that he didn’t realise he was about to play his 100^th NBL game on Friday night.

The 25-year-old has been a revelation for the Adelaide 36ers in NBL26 since crossing from Melbourne United, where he played 67 games in two seasons.

His 12.2 points per game, 3.1 assists and 4.6 rebounds has him in conversations for the NBL’s Most Improved Player award, yet he insists personal accolades and milestones aren’t front of mind.

Cameron said after being part of the United sides which lost consecutive Grand Finals, he wants to go further this season with the Sixers.

“I'll be honest, I didn’t even know it was my 100th til you told me,” he smiled after training on Monday.

“I was like, damn, it was already happening.

“I look at (Dan) Grida, the last game where they played Sydney, he was at 150 (games) and he's been in the league for nine years.

“This is only my third year, and I'm already at 100 so I'm pretty happy, pretty excited about it, but just trying to get a dub, to be honest.”

“I’m happy,” he added of his own form, “but obviously, not satisfied.

“I want to get back to the NBL finals. That's the goal of being at United in the past two years, coming out short in game five, so obviously you want to be on the other side of that so that's just been my motivation.”

Cameron has been averaging 28.4 minutes of game time in NBL26, up from the 10.55 minutes he averaged during his time with Melbourne.

And while much of his improvement has come from opportunity, he said playing alongside Bryce Cotton has also helped.

“I've been watching him the past three years, right,” he said of Cotton’s ability to win a game off his own back.

“As a competitor, for those two years, that's everyone's scouting report. When you're playing Bryce, even when he was at Perth, it was like, ‘how are we going to shut down Bryce?’

“But being on his side, it's definitely a surreal feeling. I definitely see it way more often.”

Cameron had a front row seat to the Bryce Cotton show in Saturday night’s come-from-behind win over New Zealand.

The five-time NBL MVP hit 42 points in a man-of-the-match performance, and while Cameron said the side was pleased to win, he admitted some concern at having to chase down an 18-point deficit.

“Definitely a concern that we got ourselves into that situation,” Cameron said, “but if you look at our track record, we're able to win fourth quarters throughout this whole season, we've done it probably, I'd say, 60 per-cent of the games this season.

“We know what we're capable of in terms of winning games, but obviously we need to improve our starts.

“Coming into the fourth quarter, DJ (Vasiljevic) got us a lead, and then Bryce with the dagger, and then you could just feel the electricity in the building. It was amazing.”

Cameron will bring up game 100 in Perth against the Wildcats, in a game which will decide whether the Sixers finish in the top-two before finals.

They’ll then travel cross country to the Gold Coast to play New Zealand again in the final of the inaugural Ignite Cup less than two days later.

Cameron said recovery would play an important role in being ready for the second game, but the side could not afford to look too far ahead given the importance of Friday night’s match.

“I think for this, everyone will be up for it.

“It’s the last game of the regular season. Everyone wants to finish top two.

“We’ve got a great opportunity and then go back to the Gold Coast. That's where I'm from, so I'm gonna be up for it even more with the family and friends (being there), but then, you know, we want to win the Ignite Cup, to be the first to ever do it.”

Friday night’s game at RAC Arena in Perth gets underway at 9pm ACDT. If you can’t be there in person, you can catch it on ESPN via Kayo or Disney+.