Johnson leadership a key for 36ers: coach

Adelaide coach Joey Wright believes first-year captain Daniel Johnson's evolution as a leader has been instrumental in the 36ers' recent revival.

Wright felt the softly spoken Johnson had gone into his shell earlier in the season as the Sixers struggled to string wins together.

Johnson had a game-high 22 points at 70 per cent in Saturday's five-point win over the Cairns Taipans which has the 36ers within touching distance of the top four.

"DJ can play basketball, there's no question about it," Wright said.

"It's all the other stuff. The past two weeks he's been doing all the other stuff.

"He's done a great job of leadership, talking to the guys, communicating with the coaches.

"We need him to be vulnerable in front of the group and explain who he is and what makes things work for him.

"I think he wasn't doing that and as a result he became isolated for a bit. He's fixed that."

Johnson's contribution was pivotal as was the defensive job Adelaide did on Taipans star Melo Trimble.

The league's second-leading scorer, Trimble was well held for much of the match before rallying late to finish with a team-best 18 points.

Wright said a lot of work went into quelling Trimble, who the veteran coach rates highly.

"He's one of the best I've seen in this league and I've been around for 30 years," Wright said.

"He is unbelievable. His ability to change direction, he's got great body control, he can hit the shot, you can't take the ball from him."We talked a lot about him in the scout."