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Bannan wants Bullets to make BEC a fortress

20 Oct
4 mins read

Written By

Chris Pike for BrisbaneBullets.com.au

Josh Bannan has had an immediate impact on the Brisbane Bullets winning and he wants Brisbane Entertainment Centre to become a fortress.

Nothing illustrated Josh Bannan's ability to help the Brisbane Bullets win than the impact he had on a tough shooting night on Thursday and he wants the team to keep growing and building, and making the Brisbane Entertainment Centre a fortress.

Bannan is in his second NBL season and was sorely missed in the opening two games with a hand injury before a solid return against Sydney, then a big impact in the win against South East Melbourne, and a strong overall showing against New Zealand.

The Bullets have now won consecutive games this season following those wins over the Phoenix and Breakers, and Thursday night was the first home victory in front of the home fans at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

After a disappointing first showing at home two weeks earlier against the Sydney Kings falling 29 points down before scoring the last 16 points of the game, Bannan was proud that the Bullets were able to reward the Brisbane faithful with a victory.

"It was awesome to win at home and we felt a bit disappointed in our first performance in front of the home crowd," Bannan said.

"You want to put on something you're proud of for your fans, not only to win but something you're proud of, and we felt we could have been a bit better there.

"So it was good to rally back as a group in this game, play with some more toughness and that's something we're going to continue to build on, and to do as the season goes forward.

"We want to establish a real fortress here, we want it to be a tough place to come and play. We're going to make sure of that."

While Bannan was obviously happy the Bullets have won their last two games, what is even more important is the work they are putting in to create a winning culture to create a set up for sustained success.

It's about doing all the right things to put everything in place for the Bullets to succeed that is the key, and Bannan likes what this team is now doing during the week to give themselves a best chance on game night.

"It's definitely great to get the wins, but I would say it's better to be having the practice weeks we've been having in terms of the competitive environment that's been established certainly the week before this," Bannan said.

"This week as well, we're starting to get it in terms of how we're getting after it at practice, and that's more so what will translate into more wins as the season goes on."

Bannan had a tough shooting night and finished up going 3/15 from the field, but not once did he let that impact his effort level.

What was most impressive about Bannan was despite that shooting performance, he still had 15 points while going 8/8 at the foul line. He still had eight rebounds and three assists, and scored nine of his points in the fourth quarter with the game on the line.

Bannan wasn’t shying away from his shooting struggles after the game, but despite that he played almost 31 minutes and the Bullets outscored the Breakers by five points with him on the floor.

He was doing plenty else to help his team positively and that's what he tried to do while having full faith in the teammates he's out there with.

"You don't have to beat around the bush too much, I was allergic to putting the orange thing in the orange thing tonight, but it was awesome to see the team's togetherness," Bannan said.

"That was a grind it out game and it was sloppy, and you need to find ways to win those games and there wasn’t a point in the fourth quarter where I didn’t feel confident in us, and our ability to get it done.

"There's something with this group in close games I just feel very good about us down the stretch, and it was great to see guys contributing and it was awesome to get another win."

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