Coach, captain excited for Holt's future

There's always positives you can find in any difficult circumstances and what the Brisbane Bullets have found in NBL26 is an exciting and energetic big man for the future.

Rookie big man Jacob Holt continues to be a great shining light the longer this NBL season goes for the Brisbane Bullets with coach Darryl McDonald and captain Mitch Norton excited for his bright future.

It's not just about what Holt is doing on the floor in the second half of this season with the Bullets either. It's been a multi-year process from the moment assistant coach Greg Vanderjagt first became aware of him and that he had the potential of getting his Australian citizenship.

Vanderjagt stayed in touch with Holt through the rest of his college career at Sacramento State. Then ahead of NBL26 with him graduating and becoming officially Australian, the Bullets were quick to snap him up to give him his first professional contract.

Hip surgery always meant it was going to be a delayed start to his NBL career, but from the moment he made his debut on November 8, he has only continued to get better and better, and become more accustomed to the league.

Then his role has increased significantly in the absence of Tyrell Harrison and he has thrived further including a career-best performance back on Wednesday night in Melbourne despite the team losing to United by 32 points.

Holt produced a scorching shooting performance making his first nine field goal attempts and he made 4/4 from behind the three-point arc on the way to finishing with 23 points and eight rebounds.

The 22-year-old did that while only spending 18:30 on the court as well with coach Darryl McDonald wanting to ensure he had plenty in the tank with the Bullets hosting the Illawarra Hawks on Monday night ahead of backing up on the Gold Coast on Wednesday against the Adelaide 36ers.

"That's it, we knew when we signed him that once we got him on board that he was going to be that guy," McDonald said.

"He's an energy guy and he started the season getting in foul trouble, but right now we need him to stay in games and as much as I love his aggressiveness, I can't afford him to foul and he has to understand the way refs are calling games.

"I know we lost this game pretty bad, but for him to come out and easily have his best game, and to knock down four threes which is something you love to have in this league with your back up five.

"Then with the energy he brings around the rim, he's a great rebounder and he only played 18 minutes because the plan was to try and play as many guys as I possibly could but I should have played him more.

"He came to me in the fourth quarter when I took him out and told me he could win us the quarter if I kept him in, but I had to look at the bigger picture with games coming up on Monday and Wednesday and we need him."

Bullets captain Mitch Norton has played with plenty of exciting and talented big men throughout his 388-game NBL career, but few have the unbridled energy and excitement that Holt brings.

Norton has loved everything about what he's brought to the Bullets this season and wants to continue to see him grab his chances the rest of the season including others like Jack Purchase, Cal Dalton, Tristan Devers, Taine Murray and Jensen Bradtke.

"It's good to see him be rewarded with a game like this where he can shoot the three ball well," Norton said.

"He's an energy giver and I said that in our huddle after the game that it was a great job to him and also to the guys who hadn’t really got an opportunity for coming in and playing with energy and effort, and moved the ball.

"Jack doesn’t hit a three which is something that's quite unusual for him and we want him to keep shooting the ball, and he gets four rebounds so these guys are coming in and impacting the game in a way that's a positive for us.

"I know the guys that are playing a lot have all the confidence in the world in those guys and we're like their biggest cheerleaders when they're out there so it's cool to see them get an opportunity.

"Then especially for Holty to play well, I think some of his family was here so we might have to do something to get them to every game so I'm really glad that I got that opportunity in front of his family."

In the bigger picture, McDonald just wants the Bullets to find a way to put more points on the board and it all comes from the players backing themselves more.

There are times they look tentative to shoot and are more willing to defer to teammates than take on the responsibility to score themselves, and McDonald can't understand why because he puts full trust and encouragement into all his players to go out there and try to score.

The numbers speak for themselves and since the Bullets beat the New Zealand Breakers 99-85 back on December 22, they are only scoring 78 points across the last seven matches.

McDonald just wants his players to be out there playing with more freedom.

"I mean, they've got the freedom and I draw up things for guys and I don’t know if it's that, I give all these guys the freedom to shoot the ball and play your game," McDonald said.

"A lot of it is about just being aggressive game and if you're coming out of the corner and dancing, dancing, dancing just to throw the ball back to the top and then the shot clock's running down and we've gotta throw up bad shots.

"The freedom is there, we just have to find a way to get more out of them and try to put the ball in the hole because we struggle to put scoreboard pressure on anyone right now.

"I've got my imports trying to get them shots and it's a tough one, man, it's a tough one but honestly the freedom is there and I give them the freedom to play. I'm not going to take you out because you take a shot, just play basketball."

Against Melbourne back on Wednesday night, McDonald was true to his word and gave plenty of minutes and opportunities to more players with Murray out there for 28:05, Devers 18:11, Dalton 6:29, Purchase 12:38 and Bradtke 7:44.

There were some encouraging signs amongst that too including Bradtke making the first two field goals of his NBL career while Purchase pulled down five rebounds, and Murray and Devers delivered in the effort and hustle areas.

While McDonald wants to keep giving everyone an opportunity, they have to repay his faith by delivering when they are out on the court as well.

"I'm going to continue to play them but they also have to give me something you know what I mean," McDonald said.

"I've burnt some of my main guys down and that's one of the reasons I'm doing it, but when you come in you’ve gotta give us something whether it's hitting shots or being an energy guy or going to the boards.

"You have to do all the little things when you come in the game and I'm not expecting you to come in and get up five, six, seven, eight shots, but you have to do all the little stuff and understand what we're doing scout wise.

"I've gotta continue to do it when we're down on bodies and I've been burning this guy (Norton) down by playing 30-something minutes and he can do it, but I don’t want him to do it and I want him to be fresh if we're in some close ones down the stretch."

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