Preview: NBL25 R1 v NZ Breakers at HoopsFest

The Brisbane Bullets had the best possible pre-season preparation but now the real business starts with NBL25 beginning at HoopsFest in Perth and that means a match up with the New Zealand Breakers on Saturday.

The opening of the 2024/25 NBL season sees all 10 teams assemble out west for the first ever HoopsFest with Round 1 to be all held in Perth and the Bullets will be first up in a double-header on Saturday against the Breakers.

The game will take place at HBF Stadium, the previously named Challenge Stadium, and it will be the first time the venue has held an NBL game since Game 2 of the 2012 grand final series between the Perth Wildcats and Breakers.

It will be the first time the Bullets have played at the building since beating the Wildcats all the way back on November 10, 2007.

The Bullets come into the new NBL season having had a strong pre-season which began with wins against the Shanghai Sharks, Melbourne United and South East Melbourne Phoenix, and then a loss on the buzzer despite missing a host of key players to the Adelaide 36ers.

Then at the NBL Blitz on the Gold Coast, the Bullets scored victories against the Tasmania JackJumpers, Melbourne again and then the Cairns Taipans to win the Loggins-Bruton Cup.

On top of that, emerging centre Tyrell Harrison was outstanding to win the Ray Borner Medal as the Blitz MVP. As a result the Bullets come into the NBL season-opener on Saturday against the Breakers feeling good about the preparations.

The Bullets come into the opening game of the season with a full squad available aside from second-year power forward Josh Bannan. Casey Prather, Isaac White, Mitch Norton, Rocco Zikarsky, Sam McDaniel and Harrison return from last season.

The new arrivals include Deng Adel, James Batemon, Jarred Bairstow, Josh Kunen, Keandre Cook and Tohi Smith-Milner as they prepare to face a decidedly new-look Breakers outfit.

New Zealand has a new coach, Fin Petteri Koponen, along with new faces including Jonah Bolden, Mitch McCarron, Matt Mooney, Mojave King and Next Star Karim Lopez, but import centre Freddie Gillespie will be suspended for Saturday's game.

Second-year Brisbane coach Justin Schueller is looking forward to being part of the inaugural HoopsFest event in Perth and to be part of a game at HBF Stadium for the first ever time with all the players from both teams playing there for the first time.

"The fact that basketball can be celebrated in HoopsFest is going to be a great thing and everyone is going to be chomping at the bit for that first game," Schueller said.

"Everyone is undefeated at the moment so it's about how we control the little things and just taking care of who we want to be is going to be the most important thing.

"We're excited to play in a new venue too and we're looking for firsts all the time, and this will be our first HoopsFest as it is for everyone so we want to enjoy and celebrate it the right way."

Schueller couldn’t be happier with the way the preparations for the season have gone for the Bullets, but he also knows that counts for nought now that the real business starts on Saturday against the Breakers.

"We're really excited about it and we talk about the things that are controllables and our daily habits, and that's all that we can lock in on right now," Schueller said.

"We're excited for the season to get underway because we've seen what we're like in the practice world and now it's about going out and really testing ourselves against the league.

"That's going to be something we enjoy on that journey, but we still have a long way to go and want to keep improving every day.

"We always talk about pounding the rock, and staying humble and hungry, and that's exactly what our focus is this week leading into Saturday's game."

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs New Zealand Breakers

Tip off: 6:00pm (AEST), Saturday 21 September, 2024

Where: HBF Stadium, Perth

Watch: ESPN via Foxtel and Kayo