Preview: Round 3 v Illawarra Hawks

Fresh off three games on the road, the Brisbane Bullets are set to play their first home match of the season when they take on the Illawarra Hawks on Sunday afternoon.

The match at Nissan Arena will mark the first time in over six months that the Bullets have taken the floor in front of their Brisbane fans, dating back to the end of NBL21 against South East Melbourne.

Brisbane are coming off two tough matches away to the Perth Wildcats, with both sides finishing the two-game series with one win and one loss. While the Bullets went down fighting in the 83-70 loss on Friday, they’ll still take plenty of confidence out of their double-overtime win in round two.

But as the Bullets look to defend their home court for the first time this season, they’re set for a challenging matchup against the undefeated Hawks. Dating back to the start of pre-season, Illawarra have won five from five and are currently first on the NBL ladder.

The Bullets have shown plenty of fight and promise already this season but with your support in the stands, the team is aiming to return to the winners circle this weekend. This is the first of four consecutive home matches for Brisbane, with their next game scheduled for Boxing Day.

Match Details

Tip-off: Sunday, December 19 at 2:00pm AEST

Venue: Nissan Arena

Broadcast: Live on ESPN via Kayo or Foxtel, and on 10 Peach

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Tale of the Tape

The Hawks haven’t travelled to Brisbane since February where they played the Bullets three times in less than two weeks.

It was a largely successful road trip for Illawarra who won two of those meetings. The first match was a six-point round one win at Nissan Arena, before the visitors won again five days later 90-82.

But since those two losses, the Bullets have won two out of the three most recent meetings between the clubs. This included the last match played between the two sides in Brisbane which finished 97-91.

The Bullets do have some bragging rights coming into the match this weekend though, with the Brisbane outfit having gone on the road to win the last matchup between them and the Hawks. The two sides last came up against one another in April with the Bullets winning 88-82.

Recent Form (Includes Pre-season)

Bullets: W-L-L-W-L

Hawks: W-W-W-W-W

Illawarra have been arguably the form team of the competition so far, and sit atop of the NBL standings at the moment. So far this season they’ve beaten NBl21 semi-finalists Adelaide 36ers and the Sydney Kings, as well as the New Zealand Breakers in double-overtime.

But the Bullets will be looking to bring their undefeated start to the season to an end with a win on Sunday. There are some parallels between this game coming up and the first meeting against Perth on the 12^th which could potentially bode well for the Bullets.

The Perth Wildcats were atop of the NBL standings before they faced the Bullets earlier this month, and at that stage had an undefeated record. The Bullets were also coming off a competitive loss the game before.

But Brisbane managed to turn heads with their impressive win over the Wildcats, which went to double-overtime.

Ahead of their final match of round three, Brisbane are set to come up against the form team of the League in the undefeated Hawks. The Bullets are also coming off the back of a tough loss.

A win for Brisbane on Sunday would not only continue to show the League that the Bullets can match it with the best teams in the competition, but it would also get their season back on track with their second win.

Key Players

Robert Franks – Brisbane Bullets

The Bullets may have gone down fighting against the Wildcats on Friday, but guard Robert Franks still managed to impress with a great performance.

The American shot 58% from the field, and was highlighted on Bullets’ socials as the Hostplus Performance of the Game. Franks finished with 28 points to his name, and was also one rebound short of a double-double.

It was another notable performance from the guard who currently averages 22.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per game so far this season.

He’s almost gone under the radar with performances from Nathan Sobey and Lamar Patterson standing out as well in weeks gone by, but Franks has arguably been the most consistent performer.

In the double-overtime win over the Wildcats, the 25-year-old also put up 21 points and had 12 rebounds to his name.

As well as the previously mentioned Sobey and Patterson, Franks will continue to be an incredibly important player for the Bullets as they look to defend homecourt.

Tyler Harvey – Illawarra Hawks

28-year-old American Tyler Harvey was the dangerman for the Hawks last time out against the Breakers on Friday. In the double-overtime win, Harvey put up 26-points and also had eight rebounds.

But generally across the three matches so far this season, the guard has been putting up numbers needed from his side. So far he’s averaged 18 points a game, but the match against the Breakers was statistically his best showing in NBL22.

As an interesting piece of trivia though, Harvey has apparently not scored in the first quarter of any regular season match so far this season.

But that shouldn’t dismiss just how good he is at basketball. The Hawks guard was selected in last year’s All-NBL First Team.

Next Home Game

The Bullets will play their second of four consecutive home matches on Boxing Day against the Cairns Taipans. Make sure you get your tickets today!