No excuses to not keep improving - Norton

When it come to leaders in the NBL, Mitch Norton is as inspirational as they come and he's wholeheartedly embracing the challenge of finishing the NBL26 season strongly.

Brisbane Bullets captain Mitch Norton is as good a leader as any team could have in trying circumstances and he wants all his teammates to keep getting better throughout the remainder of NBL26.

The 32-year-old has been through all the ups and downs throughout his 388-game NBL career, from winning championships to battling through tough campaigns in which fortune has conspired against his side, as has happened with the Brisbane Bullets this year.

However, no matter how challenging things can be and how tough it might be to remain upbeat with six games remaining, Norton has called on his teammates to continue to find their own motivation to play.

There's always something to play for as a professional athlete and the Bullets captain doesn’t want any player to think anything less than 100 percent is still required the rest of this season, and they look to finish the season on the front foot.

"That's the thing, what's your motivation and I think we've kinda touched on it a couple of times about why you play the game, and for me it's about what you want to improve on in these next six games," Norton said.

"We've spoken about areas that we need to improve and it's been again, again, again and again that they reoccur so for me it's about trying to eliminate at least one or two of those every time we step on the floor.

"That's purely during game times because we don't have bodies to train so for me communication is a big one and defensively that takes no skill whatsoever, it's just about talking so communicating on the defensive end is one area I'd love to see us improve."

Norton is urging the Bullets to set smaller goals if things are getting difficult during games especially at the defensive end which then in turn will help to fuel their offence.

But he's also seeing plenty of positives including the effort levels that young players like Taine Murray and Tristan Devers are providing which can set the tone for the rest of the team.

"The key is to focus on the little moments so after a timeout can we get three stops in-a-row and those are the areas that in a blowout game like that, it's easy to get swept up and just throw the towel in and it's all done," Norton said.

"That's why I really enjoyed those young guys going out there and TD had an unbelievable dive on the door to get the ball back, Taine dove on the floor to get the ball back even if there were some fumbles and Doyle ends up missing the dunk.

"Those type of things are really cool to see because they don't necessarily get the moments on the big stage, but they train more than anyone that's out there in the starting five or whatever it is, and we've needed them every moment at training.

"So it's all about harping on we don't really know what next year will look like so for this group, we're trying to focus on what we can control in these moments."

Norton is also glad to see other teammates like Jensen Bradtke, Jack Purchase and Cal Dalton to get some extra playing time late in the season.

Now what he is looking for as a captain over the last six games is which players are putting up their hands to represent the city of Brisbane with pride and to want to be part of the Bullets future.

"It's definitely difficult and challenging being in this situation, but at the same time I've experienced highs and lows in this league, and this is just another one that I can throw to the bow," Norton said.

"It's interesting, it's fun and I like to see how guys respond after a loss like this and go to training even though we can't necessarily compete, but I want to see what your attitude is like to all the stuff we are able to do, and if we're doing it at game pace or going through the motions.

"I want to see which guys are just getting through the next six games before going on to the next job or who wants to try and build something in the city of Brisbane."

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