Preview: NBL24 Christmas Eve v Adelaide 36ers at Adelaide Ent. Centre

The Brisbane Bullets will be looking for an early Christmas present when taking on the Adelaide 36ers at Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Christmas Eve. 

 

The Bullets and Sixers will lock horns in the lone NBL fixture on Christmas Eve this coming Sunday afternoon with tip-off set for 1pm Queensland time which will allow for the Brisbane players, coaching staff and support staff to be back home in time to be with their families. 

 

However, that will be a lot more enjoyable if they are celebrating a win on the flight back from Adelaide with Brisbane looking to notch an eighth victory of the NBL season. 

 

The Bullets come into the clash against the Sixers sitting on a 7-9 record this season and knocking on the door of breaking back into a position to reach a play-in game despite losing the past two matches. 

 

Brisbane is fresh off a frustrating buzzer-beating loss to the Cairns Taipans on Sunday where Mitch Norton's attempted game winning three was good, but the buzzer sounded only a split-second earlier. 

 

Last time the two teams met was back in Round 1 which saw the Bullets tremendously impressive scoring the 86-71 victory at Nissan Arena.  

 

In that performance it was an all-round contribution Brisbane received with Nathan Sobey scoring 18 points and Chris Smith 15 with Aron Baynes (12 points, 13 rebounds) and Sam McDaniel (13 points, 11 boards) producing double-doubles. 

 

Shannon Scott also contributed nine points and seven assists, and Tyrell Harrison six points and nine rebounds. 

 

Unfortunately for the Bullets last Sunday's game against Cairns was a rare case of having a full roster available this season. DJ Mitchell has now been ruled out for the rest of the season with a hip injury and newly signed import Casey Prather won't arrive in time to play on Christmas Eve. 

 

Meanwhile, it's been a tumultuous time in Adelaide with the 36ers preparing to play a third game under the coaching of Scott Ninnis who has replaced Bullets great CJ Bruton with Ninnis now in his second stint at the club as head coach. 

 

That's a man that Hostplus Brisbane Bullets Head Coach Justin Schueller knows well and he's looking forward to locking horns with him but once the game starts all he'll be worrying about is helping the Bullets put in a 40-minute performance. 

 

"Ninny is a long-time mate and I definitely never thought I'd be coaching against him, but every game is a playoff game for us," Schueller said. 

 

"We haven’t got the luxury to drop too many so every opponent that we come up against we give them the respect.  

 

"We know Adelaide will be well prepared and ready to go on their floor, but what we need to have is that edge that we've been able to carry when we go on the road for the majority of this season. We've got to find that back and that's what we'll be looking for as we prepare this week." 

 

While Brisbane were denied at the death when the clock expired a split second before Norton's good three-point shot was released that would have been the game winner, Schueller knows it was earlier in the game where the loss happened. 

 

Brisbane did a tremendous job to fight back from being 22 points down in the third quarter to even be in a position to win the game on that last possession which came after a defensive stop before Nathan Sobey ran the floor, drove inside and dished out to the waiting Norton. 

 

However, to give up 35 points to the Taipans in the first quarter and to find themselves 22 points down in the first place is where Schueller's focus will be in the review this weekend and looking ahead to Christmas Eve in Adelaide. 

 

"The fight in this group, we know what that looks like and we had to respond in that after last week. It's the first quarter in the end," Schueller said. 

 

"I trusted our ability to get key stops, we missed some key shots at times and it felt like we were about to turn the tide and you look down and it's a 35-point quarter.  

 

"That's where we have to be better and giving up 10 points in transition in that time against a squad who needs that, and letting them shoot 50 per cent from the three-point line. Any team that does that in this league, wins. 

 

"To be there right at the end, I love the run that we made at the end and it was the right play at the end, we just need the hoop gods to give us a little bit more time on that and we feel totally different about this. But the start of the game and the start of the third is just not acceptable for this club." 

 

A significant aspect for the Bullets being able to fight back on Sunday from that 22-point deficit to Cairns in the third quarter was getting defensive stops.  

 

A big reason for that was four blocked shots in a matter of minutes from 17-year-old Next Star Rocco Zikarsky. Schueller was happy to see him rewarded for the hard work he's putting in. 

 

"Rocco had an outstanding impact and you do look back if there was an opportunity to get him in down the stretch or not, but he was fantastic for us," he said. 

 

"That came on the back of him having a great week in practice and that's what we're trying to get him to continue with is those daily impacts that he can have. He saw a reward for that in this game." 

 

The other encouraging aspect of Sunday's game for the Bullets was the return of rookie power forward Josh Bannan who had missed the previous two matches due to concussion protocols following that last Sunshine Stoush. 

 

He finished Sunday's game with 15 points and 10 rebounds to record his third double-double in nine NBL games of his career so far. Schueller is delighted to have him back. 

 

"From our four spot we had a great game," Schueller said.  

 

"I thought DJ (Mitchell) still came in and did his job, and Josh after the rusty start really found his rhythm and was huge when we made our run.  

 

"We know we've missed him and fortunate to have him back. It would have been better if we celebrated that one with a win though." 

 

GAME INFO 

 

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs Adelaide 36ers 

 

Tip off: 1:00pm (AEST), Sunday 24 December, 2023 

 

Where: Adelaide Entertainment Centre  

 

Watch: 10Peach, ESPN via Foxtel and Kayo