Issue 7
BRISBANE BULLETS
EMAG BULLETS V 36ERS – MATCH PREVIEW TEAM LINE-UPS BREAKING DOWN THE KEY STATISTICS COACHES CORNER PLAYER PROFILES, COMPETITIONS, PARTNER OFFERS AND MORE!
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SUN 7 JAN 2.00PM TIP OFF Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
SUNDAY 7 JANUARY
GAME PREVIEW THE Brisbane Bullets are back home for the first of four straight games following nine of the past 11 being on the road and it’s old foes the Adelaide 36ers awaiting on Sunday January 7. It will be the first game for the Bullets at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre since the loss to Sydney Kings on December 23. Since then, the Bullets have played in Melbourne, Illawarra and Cairns heading into the clash against the 36ers just two days after a fourth meeting for the season against the Taipans on Friday night. It will also be the first time Adelaide has come to Brisbane for the 2017/18 season and it shapes as a crucial game for both teams. They have met once already this season and that proved a heartbreaking loss for the Bullets who appeared to have the contest in control most of the night. But the 36ers took advantage of the momentum late to snatch the 84-83 victory. There are plenty of things to look forward to in the contest as well and plenty of people involved familiar with one another. First of all, Sixers coach Joey Wright is no stranger to Brisbane having been at the helm when the Bullets won their last NBL championship in 2007. Bullets captain Adam Gibson was part of that title winning team and has played most of his 374-game NBL career under Wright at Brisbane, the Gold Coast Blaze and Adelaide.
There will be some tremendous individual battles going on too including centres Tom Jervis and Matt Hodgson, and shooting power forwards Daniel Kickert and Daniel Johnson. Then there is the contest in the back court between Travis Trice, Adam Gibson, Stephen Holt and Shaun Bruce from Brisbane, and Shannon Shorter, Nathan Sobey, Ramone Moore and Brendan Teys. Now the game on Sunday as Brisbane hosts Adelaide begins a home stand that includes the Bullets playing host to the Perth Wildcats, Melbourne United and then Adelaide again over the rest of January. Bullets guard Stephen Holt will play his 50th game in the NBL in the clash against the Sixers as well. He’s looking forward to getting back to Brisbane in front of the home fans. “It’s going to be fun to be back home,” Holt said. “We have a good stretch coming up in terms of home games and hopefully we can get into a rhythm. “Hopefully we can put it on this weekend and kickstart a good January for us as a team.” There is quite the rivalry over history between the Bullets and 36ers as well to draw back on. They first clashed in the playoffs in the 1985 Grand Final with the Bullets prevailing 121-95 in the one-off decider to claim the club’s first championship. They did it all again a year later in the 1986 Grand Final and this time it was the 36ers who won the best of three series 2-1, on the back of claiming Game 3 113-91 at Apollo Stadium.
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It would be eight years until they did battle in the post-season again and that came in the quarter-final contest in 1994. Adelaide won the series 2-1. Another 11 years later and the Bullets and 36ers played in a quarter-final in 2005, with Brisbane knocking out Adelaide with a 125110 victory at Adelaide Arena. That’s the last playoff battle they have waged, but recent times suggests Sunday will be another chapter in this historic rivalry with plenty at stake.
STATS STORY VS 1. The Adelaide 36ers have Brisbane’s number at home: The Brisbane Bullets will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak against the Adelaide 36ers but more than that, they will be looking to stop their opponents from winning three straight games on their home court. Adelaide won both games in Brisbane last season, including a three-point overtime win at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on October 16, 2016 followed by an 18-point victory at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on November 24, 2016. It has been 58 weeks since Adelaide last played in Brisbane.
2. Two powerhouse offenses collide: After the Brisbane Bullets, who are the highest percentage shooting team in the NBL, take on the worst shooting team in the Cairns Taipans on Friday night – a completely different match up awaits them against the Adelaide 36ers on Sunday. Adelaide are one of the fastest paced teams in the league and average the most points per game at 91.2, something Joey Wright’s 36ers teams have been known for in recent years. While the Bullets shoot the highest percentage from the field in the league, they are second last in points per game at 84.3, only ahead of the Taipans. So, controlling the tempo of this game, will go a long way towards an important victory for the Bullets.
3. Battle of the Small Forward position: Both the Brisbane Bullets and Adelaide 36ers have absolute superstars of the competition at the small forward position and it went a long way to deciding the last meeting between the two teams. Brisbane have an MVP candidate in Perrin Buford at that position while Adelaide have Boomers squad member Mitch Creek and former NBA star Josh Childress. In Brisbane’s one-point road loss to the 36ers on December 1, Buford put a solid game together with 15 points and nine rebounds, but Creek and Childress combined for 39 points and nine rebounds to lead their side to a comeback victory. The Bullets will need to contain the damaging duo to record a big win over another top four team.
COACHES CORNER WITH
ANDREJ LEMANIS NOT only are the Brisbane Bullets focused on being successful on the court in the NBL, but a great sense of pride within the organisation comes from helping individuals reach their potential. In line with that, head coach Andrej Lemanis believes his assistant Mick Downer is more than ready should a top job open up across the league. The Bullets ability to help individuals grow and prosper even though less than two years being back up and running is certainly best highlighted by the example of Torrey Craig playing an outstanding 2016/17 NBL season. He was then subsequently snapped up by the Denver Nuggets and he has gone on to realise his dream of playing in the NBA and making an impressive impact. Then there are the young players on the 2017/18 roster such as Tyrell Harrison, Will Magnay, Tom Fullarton and Matt Kenyon who have unlimited potential which will only be enhanced by their time with the Bullets and playing and training with a professional basketball team. The Bullets are certainly big on helping any member of the organisation achieve their ultimate goals too. That includes helping build CJ Bruton’s coaching credentials on the back of a legendary playing career while Sam Mackinnon has joined this season and stated he hopes it helps him coach junior national teams down the track. Then there is Lemanis’ senior assistant, Downer, who has done an outstanding apprenticeship now for 15 years to be a man in waiting should a head coaching position open up somewhere across the NBL.
Downer is a Brisbane-native and he grew up dreaming of being part of the Bullets, but it was a remarkable journey that he went on before being part of the club’s coaching staff on their readmission to the NBL last season. It all began for Downer in Townsville where he was head coach of Basketball Australia’s National Intensive Training Centre Program (NITCP). He then moved to Cairns in 2005 as general manager and coaching director at Cairns Basketball before life took him west. Initially Downer was high performance coach for Basketball WA before joining the Perth Wildcats as assistant coach, but he and head coach Conner Henry bore the brunt of a quarter-final exit at the hands of the Townsville Crocodiles in 2009. It was back to Queensland for Downer who joined the Cairns Taipans where he would remain assistant coach to Aaron Fearne up until returning to Brisbane with the Bullets for last season.
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club who might be in the market for a new coach anytime soon. While he acknowledges that it’s tough in a league with just eight teams to remain patient for your opportunity, Lemanis would only be too happy if it eventuated. He would even enjoy coaching against Downer just like he currently is against the likes of Dean Vickerman, Paul Henare and Trevor Gleeson who have either worked under him or played for him. “I can see a lot of me in him in terms of he has done his apprenticeship. Then he is really smart with the basketball X’s and O’s and he’s prepared to work the relationship with the players. He knows when to get close to them and when to perhaps challenge them a little bit,” Lemanis said. “He is good at understanding the whole running of the club too so he is ready to be a head coach there’s no doubt about that. But there are just such few jobs, it’s hard. He just has to bide his time.
He’s also coached Australian national teams including at the World University Games and has been assistant coach to the Boomers, highlighted by the Rio Olympic Games where he too teamed with Lemanis.
“I went through the exact same thing where in your first four or five years as an assistant there was no way I was ready, but then you get to the point where you feel ready to coach your own club now.
That is quite the impressive apprenticeship on paper, but on top of that Downer is a popular and respected figure because of his basketball IQ, ability to coach in games and the relationships he builds with players and fellow coaches.
“Mick is certainly there. He has served his apprenticeship and I absolutely support and encourage anyone who is looking to hire a coach at some stage in the near future to give him due consideration.”
All of that means that Lemanis has no question Downer should be high up on the list for any NBL
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
ADELAIDE
36ERS
Matt Hodgson Centre Booval, QLD
Shannong Shorter Guard Houston, Texas
Daniel Johnson Forward Carnarvon, WA
Brendan Teys Guard Brisbane, QLD
Adam Doyle Guard Adelaide, SA
Mithcell Creek Forward Horsham, VIC
Ronald Roberts Centre Bayonne, New Jersey
Majok Deng Forward Bor, South Sudan
Anthony Drmic Forward Melbourne, VIC
Ramone Moore Guard Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Nathan Sobey Guard Warrnambool, VIC
Joey Wright Coach 409 games
la y P d n a y a St with
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PLAYER PROFILE
REUBEN TERANGI HE already had 128 games in the NBL and two championships under his belt coming into the 2017/18 season, but Reuben TeRangi is displaying career-best form and he puts that largely down the confidence instilled in him by the Brisbane Bullets. TeRangi started his NBL career young at the New Zealand Breakers with the Auckland-native going on to play 103 games with his hometown club including taking part in the championships of 2013 and 2015. It was a fresh start he was after coming into the 2016/17 season, though, and playing under his former coach Andrej Lemanis along with ex-teammate CJ Bruton at the upstart Brisbane Bullets was something he felt was just the opportunity he was craving. Leaving home and being away from a close family unit was initially tough, but TeRangi went on to have a good first season in Brisbane and then had an outstanding off-season both in terms of captaining the Tall Blacks and in the NZ NBL for the Southland Sharks. That meant his confidence was sky high entering the 2017/18 campaign with the Bullets and now through a combination of increased opportunities and the confidence his teammates and coaching staff have instilled in him, the 23-year-old is delivering the best basketball of his career. Since veteran Anthony Petrie went down with a knee injury that required surgery, TeRangi has stepped in to fill that role spending most of time since in his uncustomary power forward position and the results have been tremendous.
Over his last 11 games, he is averaging career best numbers in the NBL at 9.3 points and 3.2 rebounds but it’s not just the numbers that tell the story. He is playing with far greater confidence to back himself to take his shots and make plays with the ball in hand, highlighted by him nailing four threes against Cairns. He is shooting at 46 per cent from the field, 38 per cent from downtown and 83 per cent from the freethrow line. All career highs from his 142-game NBL career to date. Add in his strong defence and he is turning himself into an impressive and consistent all-round package for the Bullets. He is enjoying the confidence that his team has in him to perform and is finding his self-belief rise and rise the more he sees the ball go through the hoop. “The key is that I know abilitywise I’m pretty capable of making shots and making plays, but the key over the last couple of years has been for me to try to build that confidence in myself to look for my shot and try to get everyone else involved as well,” TeRangi said. “It’s a good feeling to help your team win games. You don’t really think about that as the game is going but I just want to have an impact and help the team out in any way that I can. It’s awesome if that helps us win games and it just feels good to be able to play well and be on an awesome team who backs me in as well.
“It’s a good feeling to play some good basketball, but it’s kind of easy when the whole team backs you in, is behind you and rooting for you as well. It’s good to be able to play well but in turn the players and coaches have given me that confidence to be able to play that way. It’s a good feeling but I’d prefer us to get some more wins as well.” He might be undersized to be playing the four spot, but has other advantages over the opponents he comes up against in that role. It’s not something necessarily unfamiliar to TeRangi and it’s something he’s comfortable with doing. “When I was at the Breakers I shifted in and out of playing the three and the four, and this season being in more of the four has given me a different look. Playing against bigger guys can be a little bit harder, but I feel like I have the foot speed and mobility to do well with it,” he said.
PLAYER PROFILE
REUBEN TERANGI “It has been enjoyable and it’s one of the more fun spots to play because you don’t have to bring the ball up but the ball kind of goes through you most of the time on offence. It’s like playing the point guard without having to bring the ball up which is pretty fun.” The Bullets too had been building their best form of the season with road victories in Sydney, Cairns and Perth prior to narrow losses at home to the Kings and then on Boxing Day in Melbourne against United. They were two more games that the Bullets had their chances to win, but for TeRangi and his teammates they are remaining positive knowing they are playing good basketball and are out for another important win on New Year’s Eve again on the road to the Illawarra Hawks. “It’s another game we let slip, but on the positive side there are a lot of good things the team is doing. We are staying positive and trying not to let these close losses get to us. We’re just trying to put our head down and get a few more under our belt,” TeRangi said. “We can look at the negative side and see that we’ve had a few losses but the boys are keeping their spirits high knowing that we’re a good team and not letting that deter us from knowing that. There’s still a high
spirit in the group and we’re training hard, and hopefully we come out and get this New Year’s Eve win.” Making the playoffs remains within reach of the Bullets with 11 games of the 2017/18 season remaining and given he’s tasted that championship feeling twice already, that’s certainly TeRangi’s goal. “That’s always the goal and if anyone didn’t want to be in the playoffs at the start of the season I don’t know why they are playing,” he said. “It’s definitely our goal to make it into the playoffs and that’s the goal at the end of the tunnel to make it and to win the championship. But what we have to focus on is taking the right steps to reach the end of that tunnel and that’s what we are trying to do week in and week out.” Going back 18 months and it was a massive move in TeRangi’s life to leave home in Auckland and come to Brisbane to join the Bullets as the club returned to the NBL. It did take some adjusting, but he did immediately feel last year that he had made the right decision and that’s even more the case another year on now. “It’s crazy because last year I was a little bit hesitant to move away from my family because they play a big part in my life, so it took some time to adjust but I can honestly say Brisbane feels like home at the moment,” he said. “I’m really enjoying being here and being with the Brisbane Bullets who are like my second family
which is awesome. Being able to make new friends and meeting a heap of new people is making it slowly feel like home for now and it definitely does now 12 months on.” The Brisbane weather remains the one and only thing that TeRangi is yet to become accustomed to and he doesn’t think he ever will. As for his future beyond this season, remaining in Brisbane is something he’s more than open to but right now he doesn’t want to lose focus on the job at hand. “I don’t think you can ever get used to the weather. I still struggle to keep my air con off and sit outside every now and then. But most of the time I’m tucked up in my house with the air con on full blast. I wouldn’t think anyone can acclimatise to this weather,” TeRangi said. “Brisbane has been an awesome place for me and I’ve really enjoyed it, but the thing for me at the moment is just trying to think of each game ahead and trying to be the best I can. I can’t look too far down the track or my goals might get a little muddled up. I’m just focusing on this week’s game and then next week when that comes around.”
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