Issue 6
BRISBANE BULLETS
EMAG
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Match Preview Team Iine-ups reaking down B the key statistics Coaches Corner layer Profiles, P Competitions, Partner Offers and more!
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SATURDAY 23RD DECEMBER
GAME PREVIEW THE Brisbane Bullets return home looking to bring in Christmas in style up against the dangerous Sydney Kings at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday December 23. Since the Bullets last played on their home floor, beating the New Zealand Breakers back on December 3, they have become road warriors. Before the December 9 game in Sydney, it had been more than a year since Brisbane had won an NBL fixture away from home. That changed quickly in the space of a week starting with an 85-77 victory that night against the Kings. That game saw Travis Trice lead the way with 19 points and six rebounds with Perrin Buford contributing 12 points and nine boards. Reuben Te Rangi and Daniel Kickert scored 11 points apiece with Adam Gibson and Mitch Young contributing nine each, and Tom Jervis eight along with six rebounds. Round 10 then began on Thursday December 14 for the Bullets with a trip to Cairns and they came away with their third win of the season over their Queensland rivals, winning a nail-biter 75-74 following a crucial basket from Trice and huge block from Buford in the dying stages. Two days later, Brisbane had to cross the country to take on the league-leading Perth Wildcats and they delivered a scintillating 33-point opening quarter to set up the eventual 82-76 victory. There were star
performers everywhere in the Saturday victory with Buford finishing with 24 points and eight rebounds, Kickert 21 points, Jervis 14 points and six boards, Trice nine points and seven assists and Te Rangi another nine points to continue his run of career-best form. Just seven days after not having won on the road in more than a year, the Bullets recorded three supremely impressive away victories to make it four wins in the last five games to be knocking on the top four with a 7-8 record. The Bullets now return home in the last game before Christmas to host a Kings team that might be bottom of the table, but has plenty of talent and is coming off a win themselves on Sunday over the Taipans. Any team featuring reigning NBL MVP Jerome Randle, dual Olympian Brad Newley, regular Boomers representatives Jason Cadee and Todd Blanchfield along with strong imports Jeremy Tyler and Perry Ellis, exciting young big man Isaac Humphries and the experienced Tom Garlepp can’t be taken lightly. The Bullets certainly won’t be taking anything for granted against such a talented Sydney team coached by Australian basketball legend Andrew Gaze. The Kings know they need to keep winning too to keep their season alive so they will be throwing everything at the Bullets. But Brisbane deserves to return home full of confidence following the road victories in Sydney, Cairns and Perth. With Buford in outstanding form at small forward,
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Trice leading the back court where he’s receiving strong support from Gibson, Stephen Holt and Shaun Bruce, and then a front court of Kickert, Jervis, Young and Te Rangi, it’s a well-balanced, smooth running Brisbane line-up right now. Even though Anthony Petrie and Matt Kenyon remain sidelined by injury, things are clicking for the Bullets but there is no room for just assuming that winning form will continue without continuing to do all the right things. That is the focus for coach Andrej Lemanis heading into the clash with the Kings. “We just have to continue to keep building. In our last home game when we beat New Zealand some people who had been around the club the last couple of years said that was the best performance they had seen from this team,” Lemanis said. “They could see that the shift was coming so again it’s about how we perform. It’s no more or less important than any other game, but we just need to keep staying focused on the day to day, and continuing to focus on our process and nothing changes for us. “We just have to continue to get better and hopefully perform well again on our home court.”
STATS STORY VS
The Brisbane Bullets trail the Sydney Kings in the head to head clashes in NBL history. In 68 total games, the Kings have won 35 to Brisbane’s 33 but the Bullets hold a 22-12 advantage in games at home, a stat which is significant as Sydney are yet to record a victory outside of New South Wales so far this season. The four wins from the Kings this season have come at home and at Illawarra while the Bullets are yet to win consecutive games at home - a streak they will look to break this Saturday. Brisbane are 4-3 at home so far this season, which included an 81-76 victory against the New Zealand Breakers in Round 8. Brisbane have won four of their past five games and the last three in succession – a season’s best. The Bullets are looking to win four in a row for the first time under Andrej Lemanis. Brisbane entered this round with the biggest winning streak, which will be equalled by the winner of the clash between Melbourne and Adelaide on Friday night.
After struggling on the defensive end earlier in the season, the Bullets have been impressive during their three game winning streak, restricting their opponents to just 75.6 points per game on the road against Sydney, Cairns and Perth. In those three games Brisbane were able to keep the Taipans and Wildcats to just 40 percent shooting while the Kings shot 45 percent in their loss to the Bullets. Brisbane earned an 85-77 win over the Kings at Qudos Bank Arena in Round 9 for their first road victory in over a year. Travis Trice led the way for the Bullets with 19 points, including a huge step back three to seal the victory, and six rebounds while Perrin Buford added 12 points and nine rebounds. Jeremy Tyler led the scoring in this match with a game high 23 points and eight rebounds and Jerome Randle scored 22 points.
FUN FACT: Brisbane have won four of their past five games and the last three in succession – a season’s best. The Bullets are looking to win four in a row for the first time under Andrej Lemanis. Brisbane entered this round with the biggest winning streak, which will be equalled by the winner of the clash between Melbourne and Adelaide on Friday night
COACHES CORNER WITH
ANDREJ LEMANIS ALL season long the Brisbane Bullets have been offensively efficient and that was again the case in tremendous Round 10 road wins in Cairns and Perth, but what coach Andrej Lemanis has been after is an improved defence and he is pleased with the way the team is coming together at both ends. One of the great positives of the Bullets all season long so far has been the execution offensively. They are ranked high up in terms of field goal percentage (second), free-throw percentage (first) and turnovers (fourth) with the Bullets able to run the offence well, get good looks, take good shots and generally shoot the ball well. That was on full display particularly in the first quarter in Round 10’s Saturday in Perth with a near perfect first quarter with the Bullets scoring 33 points on 14-of-19 shooting to go with 10 assists and zero turnovers. They continued to perform well the rest of the game to come away with the 82-76 victory just two days after a one-point heart stopping win in Cairns. That made for a tremendous weekend for the Bullets but for Lemanis, it’s not the offensive end that has been causing him too much concern. It was defensively he wanted to see the Bullets improve and he’s been delighted to see that happen in recent times. “Obviously you strive for perfection but the reality of the game is that it’s not perfect, it’s chaotic and things happen and it’s when you get tested that you find out how you cope with things,” Lemanis said.
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“What was pleasing in this game was that we had a great first quarter and yet there was always a point where that was going to get tested. We had some moments where the offence bogged down and we dribbled too much, and the ball stopped moving and we gave up offensive rebounds.
outlined to get two supremely impressive wins.
“But we found our way through it which is part of the growth of the group. Pretty much all season we have been a very efficient offensive team but a team that has been prepared to share the ball. What we are starting to get now is the understanding of each other’s strengths just because we’ve spent more time together.
“That’s something that we preach all the time within the organisation and the team, and that’s staying true to those things that we need to do to be a good basketball team and club. What this weekend does is it rewards that belief that we have and the importance of staying focused on the process and not being distracted by the emotion of winning and losing.
“That creates more awareness in our offensive framework of when to pitch in and set a screen to get a shooter a shot, and things like that. That’s the evolution that you go through over the course of a season. “At that end of the floor I’m really comfortable with where we are, for me it was the need to get the defence somewhere near where the offence was. That has been the pleasing thing over the last five weeks that the defence has been coming together.” Round 10 was a significant one for Lemanis too. He brought up 300 games coached in the NBL in the Thursday night victory in Cairns and was able to cap off the weekend two days later with the win in Perth over the ladder-leading Wildcats. Much was made of his 300-game milestone and rightfully so for the tremendous accomplishment it is, but he wanted the spotlight on his team and was delighted with the way they stuck to the process
“The things that I have learned over the course of 301 games is the importance of being focused on process as opposed to outcome,” he said.
“If you get distracted by that, things can become better or worse than they really are. We have done a good job as a club of staying emotionally stable and going to work every day with the motto of getting a little bit better and staying focused on the process. We are starting to see the results of that and it’s coming together.”
BRISBANE
BULLETS
Travis Trice Guard Springfield, Ohio
Matt Kenyon Guard Gosford, NSW
Daniel Kickert Forward Melbourne, VIC
Perrin Buford Forward Decatur, Alabama
Shaun Bruce Guard Horsham, VIC
Reuben Te Rangi Forward Auckland, NZ
Adam Gibson Guard Launceston, TAS
Stephen Holt Guard Portland, Oregon
Anthony Petrie Forward Tenterfield, NSW
Mitch Young Forward Brisbane, QLD
Tom Jervis Centre Kalgoorlie, WA
Andrej Lemanis Coach Melbourne, VIC
SYDNEY
KINGS
Isaac Humphries Centre Sydney, NSW
Amritpal Singh Centre Ganna Pind, Punjab, India
Dane Pineau Forward Melbourne, VIC
Jason Cadee Guard Sydney, NSW
Todd Blanchfield Forward Mackay, QLD
Perry Ellis Forward Wichita, Kansas
Travis Leslie Guard Atlanta, Georgia
Kevin Lisch Guard Belleville, Illinois
Adam Thoseby Centre Melbourne, VIC
Brad Newley Forward Adelaide, SA
Tom Garlepp Forward Calgary, Canada
Andrew Gaze Coach 28 games
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PLAYER PROFILE
TYRELL HARRISON WHILE he is fighting tooth and nail every day to hit the NBL court and show what he can do, Brisbane Bullets young gun Tyrell Harrison is soaking in every moment of being of what he calls a “special group”. The 19-year-old big man spent some time training with the Bullets last season but the 2017/18 campaign is his first as a contracted development player where he is learning from a plethora of experienced teammates including Daniel Kickert, Anthony Petrie and Tom Jervis along with national coach Andrej Lemanis and NBL legend CJ Bruton. Harrison was a late bloomer on the basketball court, only bursting on the scene with the Queensland under-20 team earlier this year, and the 208cm centre said being surrounded by NBL veterans has helped push him to improve every day.
“It’s good to pick their brains everyday at training, for example if I don’t understand a set play I can fall back on those guys,” Harrison said. “The coaches are also always there to help me with everything about my game whether it’s going back to the basics with fundamentals or helping me push past my limits. “It’s been very exiting to be involved with a special group like this. One of the biggest things I’ve learned from everyone is to get out from my comfort zone on and off the court. Right now
the areas I’m really trying to improve is my physicality, my communication skills and to expand my shooting range.” To achieve success, a team needs everyone to play a role and make an impact and the youngster is trying to do that through being the best teammate he possibly can be. “I just try and be vocal on the sideline whether it’s complementing them about the previous play or encouraging my teammates to stay positive or make that big play - I think having that support from the sidelines really helps the guys on the court,” Harrison said. The Bullets have turned their season around with three straight wins on the road to sit just one win outside the top four and Harrison said the team could always feel a change in fortune coming because of how hard they have worked. “There is a dramatic improvement for the start of the year to now. The way the players play for each other and execute down the street he and it all comes back to our hard work at practice which has helped us win three games on the trot and hopefully we can continue this streak,” he said.
Brisbane next face the Sydney Kings at home on Saturday from 4.30pm (AEST).
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