Ducas embraces DMac and enjoys winning feeling

NBA champion Alex Ducas had the best game of his short NBL career in Monday night's win and to him it was no surprise it happened under interim coach Darryl McDonald who he'd like to see remain coaching Brisbane Bullets.

Ducas knocked down four three-pointers on Monday night as the Bullets snapped a seven-game losing streak and to be tremendously impressive in the 14-point victory at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre against the New Zealand Breakers.

It was the second game in charge for interim head coach McDonald and a first one at home with the Bullets clearly responding well to his message, presence and influence.

Ducas joined the Bullets for a first NBL season on the back of being part of the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA championship winning squad following a college career at Saint Mary's having grown up in Geraldton and playing with West Australian powerhouse, the Buccaneers.

What Ducas enjoyed more than anything on Monday night ahead of Christmas was getting to celebrate a win at home.

"Winning's a lot funner than losing I can tell you that and it was good to kinda get the guys flowing out there, and to get the crowd into it and give them a much deserved win," Ducas said.

"We're still kinda getting used to the change of having DMac as the head coach but just enjoy playing basketball together and this is a great group of guys who trust one another, love one another and we preach brotherhood in our locker room quite a bit.

"When you kinda all buy in and just give an effort, the rest will come and we just focused on that tonight to play well defensively, and doing well in the little things and the score will keep ticking over if you play the game the right way."

Ducas might have gone just 18/73 at 25 per cent for his first NBL season ahead of Monday night's win where he went 4/10 from deep including two triples each in the first and fourth quarters.

But whether it was back as a teenager leading the Geraldton Buccaneers to an NBL1 West (then SBL) championship or in his college career at St Mary's or indeed in the G League or NBA with the Thunder, he's always had the confidence that his next shot would go down.

"It's always good to see a few shots fall and I get so much confidence from Mac and all the guys on the team just to keep shooting," Ducas said.

"I've been through some shooting woes in my career so far and I know that the next shot's always good so it's nice to have the trust from these guys to just keep letting them fly.

"Luckily tonight was my night."

Ducas is fully aware of what McDonald did as a player and even saw some of the tail end his career when he was growing up in Geraldton so he has that natural respect for him.

He has enjoyed having him as an assistant so far this season with the Bullets as he's returned from winning NBA championship at the Oklahoma City Thunder.

After his NBL best 18 points and four triples, he's not hiding how much he wants McDonald to remain to coach.

"Long answer short, yeah, we want him around," Ducas said.

"I'm 100 per cent locked in with DMac for the rest of the season, he's good with me and the group loves him, and I know as a playing group we were super excited when we found out he was going to take over the job.

"You see the respect and response that he gets from the players in tonight's game, and everyone respects him as a player, but also as a coach and the perspective he puts on the game and how he approaches it.

"We're stoked to have him around and hopefully this is not the end of it, let's keep him around."

What was clearly on show on Monday night in the win for the Bullets was the way the players were responding to having McDonald as their coach with Ducas beaming when talking about having the former star point guard now at the helm.

"You saw how he was as a player and it's awesome that a guy like that can relate to players now as a coach and he understands what it's like to go through it as players," Ducas said.

"He's played at the highest levels and dominated, and he kinda connects with each and every individual on how they play, and how we should play as a team and sometimes it's not just about X's and O's.

"It's just about giving effort and trusting one another, and kinda leaning into that brotherhood identity that we have here, and DMac really emphasises that.

"The playing group loves him and we're excited to have him here."

Above everything else, what Ducas and the Bullets players were happiest about from Monday night's performance was giving the loyal Brisbane fan base a win to enjoy heading into Christmas in what was just a second win in eight attempts at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in NBL26.

"The main thing is giving the fans a win because they turn up every week no matter how we've been going and that was the main thing within our group was giving these fans something they deserve," Ducas said.

"It's what the city of Brisbane deserves and it's nice to give that win to them going into Christmas."