Game Day E-Mag Issue #8 | Bullets v United

ISSUE 8

S T E L L U B E N BRISBA

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SATURDAY 15 JANUARY 2017

STATISTIC OWN THE KEY D G IN K EA R B H PREVIEW NITED MATC G THE GREATS 0'S CLASSIC IN ER B EM BULLETS V U REM E ICONIC 8 : LYRICS TO TH AM IINE-UPS ER V O C R FO TE RE! RUN RNER ERS AND MO COACHES CO PARTNER OFF S, N IO IT ET P FILES, COM PLAYER PRO

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Bullets vs United

GAME PREVIEW The challenge ahead of the Brisbane Bullets to return to the NBL winner's list is a Melbourne United team who entered Round 15 as the hottest team in the league on an occasion where the rich heritage of the club will be celebrated.

to Brisbane they will have had to take on the New Zealand Breakers in Auckland on Thursday night.

The Bullets return to Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Saturday January 20 to take on Melbourne United in Round 15 of the 2017/18 NBL season and it's going to be a special occasion for a host of reasons.

Brisbane had a good look at a shot to send the January 5 game in Cairns to overtime while it did go to overtime at home to Adelaide and then there was last Sunday's game against Perth where the Bullets looked set to win just about all afternoon until Bryce Cotton snatched it for the Wildcats at the buzzer.

Brisbane will be wearing a jersey commemorating the 1985 championship-winning team while also celebrating the Bullets team that claimed the 1987 title as well to mark the occasion.

The opponents, Melbourne United, will be wearing a uniform paying tribute to the Melbourne Tigers.

It shapes as a significant test for the Bullets too but considering they have already beaten Melbourne once on the Gold Coast this season and only went down by a solitary point to them on the road on Boxing Day, they deserve to head into the contest with a degree of confidence.

Melbourne does enter Round 15 as the hottest team in the NBL having won seven straight matches to be on top of the table, but before coming

The Bullets come into the contest on a six-game losing streak but overlooking the hard to stomach ways the last three losses have occurred down the stretch, there's a lot to be encouraged about with the way the team is performing.

All that means is that despite the losing run the Bullets are on, they are actually doing a lot right and playing some impressive basketball. There'd be no better time than Saturday to return to the winner's list against Melbourne and with members of the 1987 championship team looking on.

The Bullets will also hope to welcome back big man Daniel Kickert to play his former side after he missed the game against Perth with a calf injury.

Stephen Holt is another player to come up against his old team on Saturday.

Brisbane has played well against Melbourne so far this season starting with the 87-85 victory at Gold Coast on October 28.

The Bullets controlled virtually the whole contest and then withstood Melbourne's fight back with Holt delivering 17 points while Travis Trice, Perrin Buford and Shaun Bruce all contributed 13. Kickert also had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists.

The two teams then last met at Hisense Arena in the open roof game with Melbourne coming out with the one-point triumph. But again there were some impressive Bullets performances including a seasonhigh 19 points from captain Adam Gibson and 17 points from Tom Jervis.

The Bullets have never lost at home to Melbourne in three meetings since returning to the NBL this season and they try to keep that run going to score their first victory of 2018 on Saturday.

There have been some tough lessons learned of late in the tight losses for the Bullets and star guard Travis Trice is confident they can turn things around to get a win over an impressive Melbourne outfit.

"Our thing is we just have to bounce back. We have to go back, watch film, see where we messed up at and try to correct it," Trice said.

"We are all competitors and this is our job at the end of the day so it's not hard to bounce back and want to come in and work to get better each day. Our thing is just making it happen by putting four quarters together. I think that's our problem."

STATS STORY HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

WE ARE SET FOR ANOTHER EPIC CLASH

MASTER AND APPRENTICE

The Brisbane Bullets and Melbourne United have played each other six times over the past two seasons with an even split of three wins and three losses between them. However, neither team has been able to win on the road with the home side claiming victory in all six meetings.

United are yet to win in Queensland against the Bullets with a 100-90 loss in December 2016, an 88-71 loss in January of 2017 and an 87-85 loss on the Gold Coast last October. Brisbane have played five games at Boondall since the start of last season with three wins and two losses. Their 17-point win over United last year remains their biggest win at that venue and the crowd of 7490 was the Bullets biggest in a home game since their return to the NBL.

If you are a Bullets fan, you probably have no nails left after the games with Brisbane frequently playing in matches which come down to the last seconds. In fact, 16 of the 21 Bullets games this season have been decided by eight points or less where the team has recorded seven wins and nine losses along the way.

On a results basis, these are also the two closest teams in the NBL this year with both games played so far decided by two points and one point.

This is only the third time that Andrej Lemanis and his former assistant coach at the New Zealand Breakers have gone head to head in the NBL. Vickerman was part of Lemanis’ coaching staff when the Breakers claimed three straight titles from 2011-2013 and then took over from the master coach and won a championship of his own with New Zealand in 2015. Lemanis has coached 307 games in the NBL for 167 wins and 140 losses while Vickerman has coached 111 games in the league for 65 wins and 46 losses.

The two are even in their clashes against one another, with one win a piece.

COACHES CORNER WITH

Presented by

ANDREJ LEMANIS Sticking to what is working well for a full 40 minutes is the message at the Brisbane Bullets from coach Andrej Lemanis following a heartbreaking loss to the Perth Wildcats ahead of the return to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Saturday January 20 against Melbourne United.

The Bullets did a lot of things right going back to Sunday's conclusion to Round 14 in the NBL when hosting the two-time defending champions. Then when Travis Trice nailed a clutch jumper with four seconds left on the clock, the Bullets were on top by one and looked set to snap the losing streak.

It wasn’t to be, though, with Perth's Bryce Cotton answering on the buzzer to hand Brisbane the one-point defeat in the most heartbreaking of fashions.

That meant that the Bullets have now lost six games straight but that only tells part of the story given the Bullets controlled the game against Sydney before being overrun, had chances against both Cairns and Adelaide, and then lost to the top two teams Melbourne and Perth by a solitary point.

Things could have been so easily different but for Lemanis and his Bullets he knows they can't afford to sit back and feel sorry for themselves. Instead they need to continue to work hard and continue to give 100 per cent effort and focus over the full 40 minutes.

Lemanis knows it's only minor things for a small amount of the games that is currently the difference between winning and losing, but it's hard to take for everyone to be doing so many things right and working so hard but not coming away with the wins.

More than anything, he wants the players to be getting the reward for the effort they are putting in.

"When you get hammered every week that just shows that you're not good enough. The frustration comes here because we're good enough and we show we're good enough. We are just not giving ourselves the reward for the effort we put in at different periods of the game," Lemanis said.

"Some of it is about mental application and staying focused on point over the course of 40 minutes, but also executing scouts every time and continuing our pressure on the ball throughout the course of the game. We can't sort of waver in and out with what we're doing."

Right now the frustrating thing for the Bullets is that they know they are playing well and that they are doing most things right during games.

But there seems to be something that pops up to cost them victories right now and that's the focus is going to be on rectifying over the final seven games of the 2017/18 season starting on Saturday against Melbourne United at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

"There's always an accumulation of things and there are key moments that stand out in every game.

Against Perth it was why did we turn it over six times in the fourth quarter when we hadn’t up to that point and had averaged three turnovers a quarter," Lemanis said.

"It's those moments in time too when you need a defensive stand and come up with it. Down the stretch, we had enough stops but we just didn’t come up with the ball and it's about those key moments.

"I remember playing Sydney and in the third quarter we blew it out to 13 but then we fouled Randle on a three and an and-one play to get it back to nine. That gave them enough energy to keep hanging around.

"There always seems to be two, three or four of those plays that I think we can control that we don’t. Obviously if we knew the answer to that we'd be using it."

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

Melbourne United

Josh Boone Centre Mount Airy, Maryland

David Andersen Forward Melbourne, VIC

Carrick Felix Forward Las Vegas, Nevada

Kyle Adnam Guard Melbourne, VIC

Casper Ware Guard Cerritos, California

Chris Goulding Guard Launceston, TAS

Peter Hooley Guard Adelaide, SA

David Barlow Forward Melbourne, VIC

Tai Wesley Forward Orem, Utah

Craig Moller Forward Sutherland, NSW

Majok Majok Centre Rumbek, South Sudan

Dean Vickerman Coach Melbourne, VIC

Remembering

THE GREATS #30 Leroy Loggins Set the club records for total points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals over a legendary 513 game career, with twelve seasons as team captain. ‘Leaping Leroy’ is a member of the NBL Hall of Fame and the league’s pre-season trophy is named after him.

#22 Ron Radliff Is remembered as a prolific three-point shooter over 188 games and is the only person to be a part of all three Bullets NBL Championships; two as a player and one as an assistant coach in 2007. ‘The Rat’ is top six all time in points, field goals, three-point field goals, three-point percentage, assists and steals.

#7 Larry Sengstock Captained the club to two championships in 1985 and 1987, and a run of four consecutive Grand Final appearances from 1984-1987. He is top 10 all time in Bullets’ points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and free throws compiled over a 208game career. Larry is a member of the NBL Hall of Fame and the league’s Grand Final MVP Medal is named in his honour.

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PLAYER PROFILE

ANTHONY PETRIE HE’S a fan favourite, a favourite amongst his teammates and a favourite with his coaches and now NBL veteran Anthony Petrie just wants to help the Brisbane Bullets in any way he can after making his return from a knee injury.

The man known as ‘Peach’ has spent majority of his second season with the Bullets on the sidelines, watching on as his team goes through the ups and downs of an NBL season. His time out with injury, included tough losses but also a winning streak that had the club and fans hopeful of playing in the postseason in their second season back in the competition.

Finally back on the court, the 34-year-old forward said his focus was firmly on playing the role his team needed from him.

“It's always hard having to sit on the sidelines and watch, I'm a terrible spectator. When they are winning, it's great and makes you feel more at ease but when you lose you can't help but feel like being out magnifies your injury and you feel a bit helpless,” Petrie said.

“During the time out, I just tried to help by always checking in on the boys.

When I had my knee surgery and tore my calf, the boys had a gruelling road run so they honestly weren't around a lot so a lot was via phone and text and then obviously some time face to face.

“Just watching and trying to help in any way possible in things I may have been seeing. But a lot of the

time I was away on my own pumping out the hours rehabbing and trying to get back as soon as possible.

“I think now I'm back I'll keep it very simple. Try and be a great communicator on defence, box out and rebound and then offensively just let the ball move and try and set great screens and just knock down the odd open shot. Just keep my job very basic but try and be great at those things.”

A six-game losing streak has all but ended Brisbane’s hopes of finals basketball but Petrie believed the club has still made strides this season and also admitted he had not thought about what next season may bring.

“This second year definitely feels a lot better and the boys are obviously a lot closer both on and off the court. We have made some significant strides in both those places, the front office and the community but ultimately a lot of the time in a professional environment you are judged on results,” he said.

“I completely understand this but starting a club with no prior foundation for years is a monumental task and I'm proud of every one in our club and all our supporters who are proud of our club and truly invested in building it. I know results on court have been up and down coupled with some unlucky periods with injury but I know and believe this club will come through this in a great place.

“I have had no thoughts about the future or next season, I've been very locked in on getting healthy. I get a bit obsessed trying to make sure I rehab as well as possible, so that's been my focus just getting back and trying to get back on court.”

While his time on the court has been hindered by injury, Petrie said he and his family have loved moving to southeast Queensland after joining the Bullets from the Adelaide 36ers.

“The family is doing really well and it's been a great move. It was hectic at the start when I tore my knee up and couldn't walk and my wife was heavily pregnant but that has all settled down thank god,” he said.

“Jess and Em love their school and new friends, our third daughter, Holly, also starts big school this year and our little man will turns one in a couple of weeks.

“My wife and I are also co-coaching our eldest daughters Gold Coast Under-14 basketball representative team which has been so enjoyable.

We are both really loving it and lucky we have a great bunch of girls to have as part of the team. I think I better let the wife be head coach though to stay in the good books ha ha.”

RUN FOR COVER

Bullets Theme Song Boom boom boom boom We're the Bullets Boom boom boom From Brisbane town We're the Bullets We're gonna shoot you down Fast break no mistake Our mission is transition Slam dunk, the big guys jump Danger to the opposition We're the Champions From the Sunshine State We're the Champions You're lookin' down the barrel And it's too late Run for cover The Bullets are runnin' hot Run for cover Ooh, gonna give it our best shot Make that steal, rollin' like a wheel Don't fold under aggression Grab the rebound, turn the game around WINNING is our profession

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