Keeping momentum going the focus for Bullets

Nine days in between games has allowed the Brisbane Bullets to become more acclimatised with the Brisbane Entertainment Centre as coach Justin Schueller now has his sights set on three straight NBL victories.

The Bullets made it back-to-back victories last Thursday night with the 84-73 victory against the New Zealand Breakers which was on the back of the previous Saturday’s road win over the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

It was also the first home win of the season for the Bullets as they improve to a 2-3 record and now are in full flow of preparations for this Saturday night’s clash back at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre against the defending champion Tasmania JackJumpers.

Having nine days in between games has allowed the Bullets to have a full week of practice in preparation to playing the JackJumpers, and each training session has been held at the Entertainment Centre.

Getting more familiar with their new home court is something that Schueller now hopes will help the Bullets create a true home court advantage on the back of it.

"It's been a great week for us to be out there every single day and being on the floor to just get more used to the depth perception for your shoot in that stadium, and just being able to make it genuinely feel like home," Schueller said.

"That’s been a real positive for us and we know that every team that is having their first time in the building, it’s the first time most of their players have played there so we want that to be a point of difference for us.

"We want to make it one of the toughest places for teams to come and play in the league, and it’s been a positive move forward for the club and we are loving being out there."

Looking back on last Thursday night's home win against the Breakers, following the first up win over the Phoenix, the Bullets produced what was the closest to a full 40-minute performance that Schueller has seen in NBL25.

There was plenty to like in the performance was strong contributors right across the board and now he hopes they can back it up with a third straight win this Saturday to improve to a 3-3 record following the opening six rounds.

"The thing that I was most pleased with was that it was as close as we’ve been to a consistent effort from start to end in that game," Schueller said.

"That’s something that we’re challenging every single day at practice can we stack days together, and keep getting better possession by possession.

"That was the most pleasing part and New Zealand then went home and showed how talented they are by winning two days later, but the way that we were able to put them into the type of shots that we wanted and how well we stuck to our scout was another pleasing thing.

"In the previous games we probably had a couple of lapses there that we were frustrated with, but in this one we were able to continually attack how we wanted to in offence, and flip that to the defensive side to be consistent there.

"I’m very happy for us to have got two in-a-row with a chance to get three and to get back to .500 after Saturday night."

By the end of Round 6 and the Bullets will have played the equal fewest number of games and while nine days in between games can feel like a long time, Schueller is happy for the time right now to get the team trying to click on full cylinders.

"Coaches are always happy with practice days and players want more game days, but we’ve seen it as an opportunity to get better," he said.

"We are definitely ready for games to be a bit more regular, but with that said, we know after the FIBA window that things are going to come pretty quick and fast.

"We’re taking this as an opportunity to keep improving and to keep working on us, and we know we’re not a finished product. So for us it is an opportunity that we’re relishing more than regretting having the week in between games at the moment."

While Sam McDaniel is out for the season with his shoulder injury and Deng Adel will again likely miss the next two weeks, Schueller is happy that he will have the same group in consecutive games to now work with.

"With the exception of Deng, we’re fully fit this week and that’s an exciting thing for us to be able to go into back-to-back games with the same roster," Schueller said.

"That’s the first time we’ll do that this season. Deng is trending in the right direction and that United game is probably the one that’s most likely return for him at this stage.

"He is trending the way we want him to and we’re looking forward to him being a positive injection for us too once he returns."