Norton pinpoints familiarity behind Bullets growth

Brisbane Bullets captain Mitch Norton credits spending more time together as to why things are now starting to click at the offensive end in NBL25 and he is loving having four genuine weapons out there with him.

Norton has slotted nicely into the starting point guard role this season with the Bullets, his first as captain, and has shown all of his leadership, defensive capabilities, toughness and ability to set up his teammates and run an offence along the way.

He is having a fine season himself with 8.9 points, 3.2 assists, 1.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals a game while shooting the three ball at 35.5 per cent, but it's the way the team is clicking that's pleasing him the most.

The Bullets scored two standout Heritage Round wins firstly at home to the Adelaide 36ers 102-83 before beating Melbourne United on the 122-114 to improve to a 6-7 record on the season.

Norton had a terrific weekend combining for 28 points and nine assists across the two games, but it was the scoring power he is helping to flourish that is making the Bullets build some impressive momentum.

Casey Prather had 60 points on 8/10 three-point shooting in the two wins while Tyrell Harrison had 44 points and 24 rebounds before Keandre Cook delivered 27 points, six rebounds and five assists against Melbourne with James Batemon adding 25 points, four boards and four assists.

Norton just feels like the more the group plays together, the better they are all figuring out how to get the best out of each other.

"It probably took us all a little while to figure it out, but these guys are elite shooters so the actions we can put them in with great screens and to allow them to cut will only help them show what they can do," Norton said.

"It's all about trying to free the game up to allow them to move and cut, and when the ball does move and they are active you can see what elite players we have on this team. Tyrell does a great job in the middle as well and it's a lot of fun out there being that connector for sure."

Defensively against Melbourne on Sunday to concede 114 points will give the Bullets plenty to work on leading into another Round 12 double-header at home to South East Melbourne on Thursday, and then away to Sydney on Sunday.

However, for the team to click so well offensively not only in that game, but in the wins over the Sixers and United to put up a combined 224 points on 60.5 field goal shooting and with four players going for 25 or more against Melbourne means Norton is having a lot of fun setting things up.

"It felt like no one could get a stop and I remember looking up in the quarter and couldn't believe how many points were on the board," he said.

"We definitely weren’t ticking our markers that we want to tick each quarter, but on the flipside I just love how the ball's moving. Everyone's getting a touch and when you have four guys scoring in the 20s, obviously that's pretty rare, but it becomes hard to scout.

"That's through ball movement and the more games we play in quick succession we're going to keep getting better down that end. Then when we hit the training court we've got to lock down on defence."

It wasn’t just about the players putting up big numbers last weekend either and Norton was impressed with the minutes Isaac White, Tohi Smith-Milner and Emmett Naar came on to play.

But over the last couple of weeks, Tristan Devers and Kye Savage have scored their first NBL points, Rocco Zikarsky had back-to-back career-best nights, and the captain likes how the whole group is pulling together.

"We speak about stacking good days and we've had a couple of rough days recently just with guys having injuries and illness, but what I love is that guys who don't always see a lot of court time are stepping up," Norton said.

"They might not get a lot of credit, but the DP's and Isaac White didn’t shoot the ball once, but impacts the game still in almost 10 minutes. That's what I love about this group and the more games we play together we're going to keep growing and learning, and continuing to get better."