The 19-year-old starred in the men's tight eight-point loss to Ballarat at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre.

Coach Brad Chalmers praised Dance for his strong start to the season.

"Offensively he was really good," Chalmers said.

"He was clearly our best on the night.

"We had a pretty even mix of guys that contributed, we just probably didn't have enough stars.

"They (Ballarat) had a couple of guys who contributed quite heavily on the scoreboard."

Former Adelaide 36ers development player Bijan Johnson also had a solid start, before foul trouble saw his time on court interrupted.

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Chalmers said the round one loss has given the side some things to think about in the lead up to their next encounter with the Melbourne Tigers.

"Defensively we probably weren't where we wanted to be, and our offence struggled a bit with continuity," he said.

"We started with a fair bit of energy and then hit a bit of a flat spot.

"The boys understand that it's a long year and want to get some wins early, but it's one of those things where you have to be patient and work hard, and the results will eventually come.

"Overall for a first up game it was a nice solid base and has given us some things to work on."

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