Bullets gear up for two more home games

Coming back from a win less than 48 hours earlier for the second straight week and coming up against the NBL's most intense team was tough for the Brisbane Bullets, but bodies are arriving/coming back ahead of two more home games.

The Bullets might have lost to the South East Melbourne Phoenix at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Saturday, but they had done well to beat the New Zealand Breakers two days earlier ahead of now hosting the Cairns Taipans and Sydney Kings this Thursday and Saturday.

The Bullets were able to come back from 24 points down on Thursday to beat the Breakers despite conceding 24 more shot attempts in that game, but the same recipe didn’t work against the Phoenix on Saturday.

South East Melbourne took 25 more shots than Brisbane on the back of pulling down a monstrous 26 offensive rebounds and forcing the Bullets into 17 turnovers.

That proved a recipe for disaster for the Phoenix with all coach Stu Lash's worst fears from before the game realised combined with the visitors also shooting 16/42 at the three-point line.

"I felt we got outworked and maybe there was some fatigue, but that's not an excuse and we said coming into the game that offensive rebounds, three-pointers and their pressure were the focus points," Lash said.

"They had 26 offensive rebounds, we have 17 turnovers and they go 16/42 from three. I don't want to say it's fatigue, but I also know that we've had a long road schedule to start the season and we've been fighting, and maybe we were just a little gassed at certain moments.

"We also lose Tohi after a short stint so we're kinda scrambling there as well and coming back from New Zealand with a three-hour time difference, I'm not making excuses by any means but we're playing a few key guys well over 30 minutes on a short turnaround.

"I just felt those types of things with the rebounds and turnovers, it's much a mental fatigue as it is mental and we know we have to be better, and we're not making excuses."

After the Bullets had a good three-point shooting night in Perth going 12/26 in that big win, they have combined to go 17/61 in the three matches since, but Lash is still confident in them being a good outside shooting team.

A lot of it comes down to running the right offence, moving the ball and also doing a better job getting stops on the defensive end which can all lead to getting the three-point looks they are after.

"Sometimes it's the type of threes that we're taking and how those are being generated, and when they're not coming off ball movement and purposeful pace, it can also then put a lot of pressure on your defence coming back the other way," Lash said.

"I know we're a good shooting team, I see it every single day in the gym, and we're not getting Tyrell (Harrison) involved enough.

"I feel like if we can play more inside, it can open up our outside and we're not far off. It still just comes down to the type of threes that we're getting consistently that we've got to be better at."

The Bullets knew coming into Saturday's game the full-court pressure defence they would be facing from the Phoenix, and in turn the energy they had to put into just getting the ball up the floor didn’t help their overall offence.

It gave the Bullets less time to get into their offensive set once into their half-court and combine that with a lack of ball movement or running the right plays, and Lash feels that was as big a reason for their tough shooting night and the 17 turnovers.

But Lash is confident with Dakota Mathias having now arrived, and Mitch Norton and Sam McDaniel closing in on returning, there'll be some much better offensive execution to come.

"Their pressure's real and when you're taking the ball out of bounds all the time because we couldn’t get stops, they get to set their defence and then we're not playing with pace," Lash said.

"We're bringing the ball up the floor and are getting into our offence with 14, 15 seconds on the shot clock instead of 18 or 19, and it just makes it more difficult.

"The offence was definitely stagnant and we talk about our ball movement, our cutting and moving the ball from the first side to the second side, and when you don’t do that, you're taking tough shots and it's putting pressure on your defence going the other way.

"It all compounds from there and when you get down in the hole, it might seem well intentioned, but we're trying to get it back it too quickly and not trusting who we are and what we can do really well."

Speaking of Mathias, he will be available starting Thursday night against the Taipans for the Bullets. Given he's shot the three ball on a high volume at around the 40 per cent mark his entire professional career, he'll providing a significant shooting boost.

But Lash is looking at him to help in plenty more areas than just being a good outside shooter.

"Yes, he'll be available for the next round and he's a basketball IQ player, a really good shooter and understands ball movement and execution," Lash said.

"I think he'll fit in really well with the current group and just give us another connector type player that understands how to play systematic basketball, and can still get his own shot.

"He's a good ball carrier too so he can help in that area where without Norto we are really only having two primary ball carriers with Tristan (Devers) being one of them who is still in his development phase of that part of the position."