Aussie Battler Norton embracing every challenge

Brisbane Bullets captain Mitch Norton continues to embrace the NBL's biggest defensive challenges as that 'Aussie Battler' while even he is getting caught up in the brilliance of teammate Casey Prather at times.

Norton found himself looking on in amazement at a couple of things on Wednesday night as the Bullets got back on the winner's list with the 83-74 victory against the New Zealand Breakers at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

The first was continuing to revel in the current form of teammate Prather who put up another 31 points to be in the form of his NBL career which is saying something considering what he previously did to earn three championship rings at the Perth Wildcats and Melbourne United.

Beyond that, Norton played another key role in the win for the Bullets as he now prepares for his 50th game with Brisbane as part of his 364-game NBL career.

He continues to be among the standout defenders in the competition and right now the job night after night on the best guards in the league is providing him with as stern a test as ever.

Even just recently and it was Jaylen Adams from the Kings, Matt Mooney from the Breakers and now on Saturday night against the South East Melbourne Phoenix it will be Derrick Walton Jr, and even on Wednesday back in Brisbane his former teammate Bryce Cotton.

Norton always gets himself primed for any challenge and does the best he can against the superstars of the league.

"I feel like I've been doing it for a while now and I'm coming up against some of the best guards in the league is something I pride myself, and trying to do a good job on them and getting them to areas of the floor they don't necessarily go to or to take shots we can live with," Norton said.

"For a good solid period of time there a lot of teams had starting Aussie point guards like Adam Gibson, Damian Martin and you can go down a list.

"There doesn’t seem to be too many of them around now so it is the imports that are coming in who are extremely talented, and most have NBA experience. It's good fun and I enjoy just being an Aussie battler out there trying my best."

Prather continued his remarkable form on Wednesday night in the win over New Zealand with another 31 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots while shooting 10/14 from inside the arc and 8/14 at the foul line.

While Prather played some outstanding basketball in his first three NBL seasons that led to championships with Perth and Melbourne, he's never played better than this stretch right now with Brisbane.

Norton finds himself looking on in amazement at what he's doing at times, but then quickly remembers he has a job to do to help put Prather in positions to succeed.

"At times you can get caught just watching which is probably not the best thing to do for him, you need to keep moving and getting him space to create shots for him," Norton said.

"But at times it is amazing and we can just sit back and watch, it's fun and it's an amazing tear that he's on. I'm glad he's on my team."

Norton also could scarcely believe at times on Wednesday night that he was sharing the court with the biggest man to ever play in the NBL, Tacko Fall.

Norton wasn’t quite sure what to think when he looked up to see the 7'6 Breakers giant, but at the same time was proud of what the Bullets did to limit him to seven points and three rebounds with Tyrell Harrison leading the charge.

"It's wild to play against someone that tall. There's instances in the game where something happens and it's just like, wow when you look over at him," Norton said.

"But in terms of us having a good game plan, I thought Tyrell was great and our execution of the game plan was really good.

"To keep him to whatever it was is an impressive task and it's rare, I'm literally amazed by how big he is and by his skill and talent. It's fantastic for the league to have someone like that here, but I'm happier that we got the win."