Better execution the focus through injury woes

Another injury to a key player just sums up further what the Brisbane Bullets have had thrown at them in NBL26, but coach Stu Lash still feels his remaining group are sticking together and just need some better execution.

Just as he was starting to find his groove in the NBL and providing the Bullets with the shooting threat they needed to add to their other talents, Dakota Mathias might be the latest to now have his season ended through unavoidable injuries.

Mathias started last Thursday's game against the Illawarra Hawks tremendously too with 11 points and 2/3 three-point shooting to his name before going off with an injured shoulder in the second quarter.

It would later be discovered he had fractured his scapula meaning he is ruled out for up eight weeks and facing a race against time to return before the end of NBL26.

With Casey Prather and Lamar Patterson already ruled out for the season, and with Javon Freeman-Liberty, Sam McDaniel, Jacob Holt, Tohi Smith-Milner and Mitch Norton all having missed significant time with injury this season, it's just the latest blow for the Bullets.

When coach Lash reflected on Sunday's loss at home to the Perth Wildcats, it was their shooting struggles and lack of offensive execution that stood out, and there's no question Mathias would have been able to play a big part in both areas.

However, the Bullets now have to adjust to Mathias joining Prather and Patterson on the sidelines when the latter could have stepped in to replace him if healthy, and the former was playing so well he was a genuine MVP contender.

Lash can't remember seeing a team go through a worse run of contact and unavoidable injuries than what the Bullets have dealt with in NBL26.

"It's borderline unprecedented and I've been in professional basketball for over 25 years, and this is up there with it," Lash said.

"We just have to stick together through it and a lot of these injuries have really been contact related ones on the road in games, and not even in practice or from anything we're doing from a preparation standpoint that makes us question our process and procedures.

"It's just really unfortunate and Dakota is a great guy who was really settling into the group, and was giving us what we needed. That's a guy who plays with some gravity and you really have to pay attention to where he is.

"We have some physicality up front and his presence really helped that and it's going to be a big loss for us."

As much as it is a reality of the situation that given the injury and personnel troubles the Bullets have had it's been highly disruptive, Lash also knows there's no room for excuses and the team have to figure out how to be more competitive, and get back to getting in winning positions in games.

They have now lost six straight to have slipped to 5-13 on the season ahead of playing the South East Melbourne Phoenix in Melbourne on Saturday, but Lash does feel with the players still available, the performances can swiftly turn around with better execution.

In the two losses last weekend to the Adelaide 36ers and Perth Wildcats, the Bullets only managed to shoot 41 per cent from the field, 22 per cent from three-point range and 64 per cent at the foul line.

Then while pulling down 78 rebounds, only 20 of those were at the offensive end and they had just 23 assists opposed to 30 turnovers across the 80 minutes.

They are all areas Lash feels are easily correctible no matter who is or isn’t available to play.

"I think we've been fighting all year and there's a brotherhood amongst them that they care about each other, and the effort has been there but our execution just is not there offensively," Lash said.

"We're trying to move the ball and trying not to just play on the first side, we want to play with pace and we want to take advantages when we can in transition.

"But when we don't, we want to try and establish Ty and Terry inside, play on the second side and play with a little more pace and movement, and play through some shooters, but we're just not making shots right now. I don’t think we're taking bad shots but our execution in certain patches has just been really inconsistent."

Two players who are now finding their groove with the Bullets are recently arrived import Terry Taylor and rookie big man Jacob Holt.

Taylor had 18 points in both games last week away to Adelaide and at home Perth with 16 rebounds on 16/28 field goal shooting.

Then there's Holt who missed the first 12 games of the season, but is now providing plenty of energy backing up Tyrell Harrison and had 17 points and four rebounds in the two games last weekend.

"Both Terry and Jacob play with a downhill mindset so in the frontcourt that's really important," Lash said.

"Terry is finding his groove in the league and understanding match ups and where he can have advantages. Then Jacob just keeps getting better every game so there's definitely a positive from those two."