Bullets look for strong response in Sunshine Stoush

Last time the Brisbane Bullets had a loss in Melbourne this NBL season it was the kickstart to a terrific run of form and Hostplus Head Coach Justin Schueller will back his team to do the same starting this Sunday at home to Cairns.

Brisbane had strung together eight straight strong performances in NBL24 and those came on the back of two tough losses on back-to-back weekends in Melbourne firstly against United and then South East Melbourne Phoenix.

The way the Bullets responded on the back of that last loss in Melbourne was tremendous beginning with the wins against the Perth Wildcats, Tasmania JackJumpers and South East Melbourne.

Following that might have been three losses, but they were games against the JackJumpers, Sydney Kings and Wildcats that Brisbane were impressive in for the most part. Then coming out of the FIBA international window, the Bullets defeated the Taipans and Illawarra Hawks.

So there was nothing to suggest that the Bullets would struggle in Melbourne this past Sunday and now coach Schueller will be looking for a strong response this Sunday back home at Nissan Arena against the Taipans in the third Sunshine Stoush match up already of NBL24.

"Honestly every game for us right now has a bit of a playoff edge to it because we know we need to hit the ground running and put our foot down a bit," Schueller said.

"We had a good battle up there against them and we know it's going to be physical, probably the most physical game we've played in so far this season.

"But it is on our floor and we're looking forward to that, and the week long prep of actually being able to stay in Nissan Arena this week. That'll be an advantage for us and we'll focus on getting bodies right and we need to learn from this game, but we'll flush it and move forward from it."

What Schueller didn’t like about Sunday's loss in Melbourne was the similarities between the first time the Bullets took on United back on October 15.

While Brisbane finished well in that game and it was a better start this time around, the things that cost them against the league-leaders were similar and that left Schueller frustrated, but at the same time they know they can bounce back.

After the Bullets last loss in Melbourne and then a tough showing six days later in the same venue to the Phoenix, the Bullets got on a roll winning the next three games, being in winning positions in the next three and then beating the Taipans and Hawks.

So while Sunday's loss wasn't fun to go through, Schueller does know his team has what it takes to respond strongly to it.

"It's a déjà vu game for us and that's what is driving me nuts right now," he said.

"We spoke about all these things last time and we know if we're going to do anything we're going to have to come through Melbourne at some point, and that's where we need to be better. That's what we're going to go away to work on."

Rookie starting power forward Josh Bannan has now missed the last two games for the Bullets through concussion protocols following a knock he received in the last game against the Taipans back on December 1. While the team are doing a great job of stepping up, Bannan's absence is felt.

"DJ is doing a hell of a job battling there but we're playing guys out of position in the four spot and that's honestly when we've been giving up runs," he said.

"We've got to fix that part because there's no guarantees he's back next week and if he misses again we've got to have a solution.

"That's something we'll go away to work on but he's an important piece to our puzzle and when he's been in games we haven’t lost too many so we look forward to him returning and to us being able to get back whole."

It's still a wait and see process to see if Bannan will be available or not to take on the Taipans this Sunday at Nissan Arena. Schueller and the Bullets will give him every chance to be right while also not rushing it because concussion isn't something you want to take chances on.

"We still don’t know at this stage and we were hopeful last week that the signs were really positive early in the week, and then kind of stagnated," Schueller said.

"The beauty is that we do have seven days in between games without any travel so there's time for him to get right and that's where we sit right now."