Preview: NBL26 R13 Away v SE Melbourne Phoenix

There might have been some changes at the Brisbane Bullets this week, but they have had almost a full week to now prepare to take on the South East Melbourne Phoenix at John Cain Arena on Saturday night.

The Bullets last played on Sunday when they lost at home to the Perth Wildcats and that turned out to be the last game in charge for first-year coach Stu Lash.

It was announced this week that Lash had stepped down from his position with assistant coach, and NBL legend, Darryl McDonald will take over in the interim with his first game in charge on Saturday night at John Cain Arena.

Given the history has in Melbourne from his legendary playing career with the North Melbourne/Victoria Giants/Titans and finally the Melbourne Tigers, it's only fitting that his first game as an NBL head coach in over a decade will be back in the city he built his legacy.

The Bullets now come into Saturday night's game against the Phoenix having lost their past six matches and it has been a challenge with an average losing margin of those being 21 points.

The offence has been a particular struggle with Brisbane only averaging 77.5 points across those six matches with long-term injuries to import trio Casey Prather, Dakota Mathias and Lamar Patterson not helping that cause.

The Bullets now play a Phoenix team who did win on Thursday night in Perth having come from 16 points down in the third quarter with John Brown III hitting the winner just before the buzzer.

But the positive for the Bullets is that they have freshness on their side having not played since Sunday while the Phoenix have to fly back from Perth on Friday and then step out to play again less than 48 hours later.

The two teams have already played twice this season with the first meeting at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre back on October 25 with South East Melbourne scoring the 109-86 victory.

The Phoenix then also won in the same venue 103-76 on November 20 so the combined 50-point margin in favour of South East Melbourne means the Bullets have plenty of work to do on Saturday night to turn that around.

The key for the Bullets is taking better care of the ball up against the full-court pressure from the Phoenix and also keeping them off the offensive rebounds because they are a team that prides themselves on winning the possession game, and getting up more shots and playing at a faster pace than the rest of the league.

Bullets captain Mitch Norton knows that the season isn’t panning out how he would have envisioned, but he does like the togetherness the playing group still has and how hard they are working to turn things around.

"The good thing for me is that we've got really great guys in that locker room and not one person is blaming anyone," Norton said.

"We're coming together collectively and we're working extremely hard when it comes down to our day in and day out approach in the gym, on the practice floor and that's where the frustration is coming from.

"We know we're working really hard at all the right things but we're not making shots, we're not executing when we know we can and have the ability to.

"That's what is costing us games so that's where the frustration comes from and no one is blaming anyone, we've got each other's backs and that's what I love about that locker room."

There's always positives in any situations and what Norton does think will come out of this season to help the Bullets' future is the key positions that young players Taine Murray, Alex Ducas, Tristan Devers and Jacob Holt are all being put in.

"I look at the approach that we're getting these young guys experience that you're not going to get anywhere else," Norton said.

"You can't beat game time situation minutes, they're worth its weight in gold and it's going to hold this club in good stead moving forward with the likes of Taine, TD, Jacob and all those guys that are thriving under this kind of environment and the extra opportunity. That's the way that I like to look at it."

Speaking of Holt, the big Australian-Canadian has been a bundle of energy with the rookie big man getting better each time he steps out on the court and despite the team's struggles, he had 17 points and four rebounds in the losses to Illawarra and Perth last week.

Norton can't speak highly enough of the energy he brings.

"He's got a physical presence about him, his energy is infectious and he is yelling and he's shouting," Norton said.

"At times he acts like a big kid but that's because he is and we love him for it. We're glad that he's on our roster."

GAME INFO

Who: Brisbane Bullets vs South East Melbourne Phoenix

Tip off: 7:00pm (AEST), Saturday 20 December, 2025

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne

Watch: ESPN via Foxtel, Disney+, Kayo and Fetch