Bullets go down swinging against NBL heavyweights

After a big NBL season, the Brisbane Bullets couldn’t quite deliver the knockout blow against league heavyweights New Zealand Breakers on Saturday evening. Brisbane gave it their all against top-two hopefuls New Zealand in front of a packed house at Nissan Arena, but fell to a 75-80 loss in overtime.

With nothing to lose, the Bullets took the floor in front of their home fans for one last time in NBL23. From the opening tip, the Bullets played like a team with a point to prove. Brisbane had one last chance to repay the unwavering support from our passionate fans.

While the Bullets were slow out of the blocks, they began to cook up something special after early buckets to DJ Mitchell and Nathan Sobey.

It was a seesawing start to the contest, as two teams desperate for a victory traded the lead four times. But the Bullets had the last laugh, with a Rasmus Bach three giving the hosts a 18-16 lead at quarter time.

After a steady start to the Round 18 thriller, the Bullets began to hit their stride in the second quarter. Mitchell and Sobey continued to make their mark on the scoreboard, as Brisbane went into the half up by six.

The clash had become even more tense throughout a thrilling third term. New Zealand regained the lead mid-way through the quarter, but the Bullets wouldn’t be kept quiet for long. The Bullets scored some go-ahead points through Tyler Johnson, before chaos ensued.

Shortly after, another three-pointer from Bach gave the Bullets a two-point lead with 90 seconds to run on the clock sent the vibrant home crowd into a frenzy.

But the Breakers continued to fight their way back into it, as the teams were locked at 54-all at three-quarter time. Both teams refused to give an inch throughout a fierce fourth quarter, which had seemingly been decided with 5.7 seconds on the clock.

Tyler Johnson converted two shots from the charity stripe, which gave the home side a 71-70 lead. But no more than two seconds later a Bullets foul at the other end saw the Breakers level the scores, and send the game to overtime.

From there, the Bullets couldn’t match it with the Breakers – who are now ranked second on the NBL standings.

While the Bullets fell short of their hopes and aspirations this season, Hostplus Head Coach Greg Vanderjagt is “proud” of how the team finished their campaign; refusing to quit when others may have.

“I am proud of the group (and) the way they’ve conducted themselves,” Vanderjagt said after the overtime loss.

“There were moments throughout the season where they all could have gone their separate ways and we just mail it in the rest of the way, but it never happened.

“We kept finding a way to reset and bring everyone back together and back to playing the right way.

“It wasn’t easy at times for the coaching staff, for the individuals, for the group collectively… But to their credit, there’s a lot of experienced, professional guys in that locker room. There’s a lot of talented, young athletes in the locker room.

“I think everyone has learnt a lot from this year that is going to make everyone better in their professional careers. There’s a lot of resilience being shown to show up and keep competing.

“Really proud of the group for not letting it go south, and I think we can be happy with how we represented ourselves.”

Coming up against one of the form teams of the competition on Saturday, the Bullets showcased their potential and brilliance throughout the five-point loss.

Aron Baynes led the way with 17-points and six rebounds, Tyler Johnson had 15 points and Nathan Sobey added 14 points, while rising star DJ Mitchell had eight boards.

“We found ways to get stops, we mixed things up, they competed, they played for each other, they played for the fans, like (another) sold out crowd,” he added

“The fan base, the members have been unbelievable all season and a credit to them for voting with their feet and they come and keep showing up and supporting this team.

“I think the team rewarded them tonight with an effort that they can be proud of, and collectively everyone who played and everyone who didn’t play gave something to the group tonight.

“A lot to learn from the season, and a lot for guys to take away from it.

“To finish playing that way, the outcome isn’t what we set out to do, but we played the right way which is the most pleasing thing.

“It could have gone the other way in our situation not being in the playoffs, it could have gone the other way really quickly, but proud of the group to not let it go that way and compete for each other.”

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 18

BRISBANE BULLETS 75 (Baynes 17, Johnson 15, Sobey 14)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 80 (Brantley 19, McDowell-White 15, Abercrombie 14) 

BOX SCORE