No excuses from Norto as Bullets look to fight

Brisbane Bullets captain Mitch Norton continues to battle manfully leading his team through a challenging stretch but he's not interested in making excuses and is looking forward to the ball handling help from Hunter Maldonado.

Norton's leadership, tenacity, heart, spirit and then basketball talents is why he's been so successful whether starting his career as an 18-year-old with his hometown Townsville Crocodiles or since with the Illawarra Hawks, Perth Wildcats and now the Bullets.

He is a leader of men and as inspirational of a figure as there is in the league, and that's why he isn’t interested in making excuses even if there are plenty of reasons for the Bullets to be struggling right now having lost nine of the last 10 games.

It doesn’t get any easier with the league-leading Adelaide 36ers coming to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Sunday with Norton having another big job ahead of him.

Having started the season with a former league MVP Jaylen Adams alongside him as a point guard and then with Hunter Maldonado having recently been signed but unable to play yet, Norton's had to carry the point guard duties.

He's happy to do whatever he needs for the team, but will be glad at least to have Maldonado on deck on Sunday against the Sixers.

"I don’t think there's anyone more excited than me to welcome Hunter to the group, it's going to be good to get him in," Norton said.

"He's been around us for a couple of days now, he's a great guy and he's going to be a good fit for us and I can definitely see time where we are both out on the court together, and that will benefit both of us.

"No joke, it's been a tough little stretch here, but I don’t think anyone in this locker room is someone that will run from the fight so we're in this together."

The injury curse inflicted on the Bullets this season almost deifies belief and it started right in the first game of the season when Norton himself injured a knee.

Sam McDaniel hurt an ankle in the very next game with Javon Freeman-Liberty also getting hurt, and since then import trio Casey Prather, Dakota Mathias and Lamar Patterson have suffered long-term injuries.

Jacob Holt and Tohi Smith-Milner have also spent time on the sidelines with Tall Blacks guard Taine Murray currently with an injured ankle, and then there were more blows back on New Year's Day against the Wildcats.

Norton clashed with Tyrell Harrison in the second quarter when they were chasing down a loose ball with the Bullets centre now in concussion protocols to rule him out at least of Sunday's home game against the 36ers.

Freeman-Liberty also hurt a hamstring and will miss that game against the Sixers, but the last thing Norton wants is to make excuses.

"It's just one of those things you know, you want guys going for loose balls and we both did that and someone came off a little worse than someone else," Norton said.

"We're obviously thinking of Ty and we've got to get around him, get around Javon and stay together as a group.

"It's just kind of a snowball effect for us right now, but we're not going to make excuses and we've got enough guys to play a game of basketball.

"Everyone's in this club and at the club for the right reason, and that's because they are good basketball players and guys are going to get opportunities, and we'll come out and play hard, and represent this city well."

The challenges keep on coming for Norton on Sunday when the Bullets host the league-leading Adelaide 36ers and for the captain, that means he will likely be tasked with chasing around his former teammate Bryce Cotton once more.

The pair shared two championships together with the Perth Wildcats so Norton is familiar with the task ahead of him, but that doesn’t make it any easier and he didn’t miss his former Townsville Crocodiles and Wildcats teammate Clint Steindl along the way either.

"I'm obviously looking forward to it and we played together for a long time, and I played against him at training for a long time mainly because Clint Steindl didn’t want to guard him," Norton said.

"It's good fun, he's obviously the best player in the league and you know, they're a great team too and have scorers all over the floor. It's a good chance for us to come together as a group, regroup and put a good performance on the floor."