Shannon Scott set to play 50th NBL Game

The faith received from his coach has meant alot to Brisbane Bullets point guard Shannon Scott on the eve of his 50^th NBL Game.

Scott is playing his second season in the NBL but his first with the Bullets, after a strong campaign in NBL23 at the Cairns Taipans. He was a critical part of the Snakes team who made a run into the semi-finals and became an instant target when Hostplus Brisbane Bullets Head Coach Justin Schueller was appointed Head Coach.

Scott started the season in fine form for the Bullets averaging 10.2 points and 6.0 assists across the first five matches before he suffered a hamstring injury against the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

Shannon admits to it taking some time for him to have full trust in his body once he returned, but the faith placed in him by Schueller gave him the confidence to build himself back up and he is getting back to some strong form now.

He has been playing a crucial role on a Bullets team that has now won five of the past six matches to have moved up to fourth position on the NBL table with a 12-12 record with four matches to go.

His proven ability to run the offence, play strong defence and make big shots and plays when needed, has been important in the Bullets' charge towards the NBL finals.

It's the trust and faith that has come from coach Schueller that Scott credits for the way he's been able to bounce back from that second hamstring injury of 2023.

"Justin did a great job of just telling me to be myself and I think when I first came back, I was just trying to fit my way back in and ease my way into it," Scott said.

"But he let me know and just go out and be as natural as I can be, be a menace on the defensive end, set up guys and be a playmaker, and just be myself.

"Once I really just honed in on that I felt great out there. It's feeling better and he gave me a lot of confidence to be myself and that really helps."

Of the eight battles between the Queensland rivals Scott has played in, he's been on the winning side in six of them. With Sunday's win in Cairns by 18 points, the Bullets also secured fourth spot on the ladder.

Going back to his old home court and playing his former team wasn't something Scott thought too much about, though, compared to how important it was for the Bullets to get the win to bounce back from Friday night's loss in Perth.

"It's a good feeling but I don’t want to take it too personal. We have an overall picture that we want to achieve and as long as we can achieve that, I'm happy with it," Scott said.

"I just enjoy the team I'm with now. These are the guys who have my back and come into this season, Justin let me know that he's going to have my back no matter what.

"I really appreciate that about him and I'm going to make sure I give him my all no matter who we're playing. It just turned out to be Cairns in this game, but every other team in the league I'm going to give it my all just the same every time."

There was a lot to like from the performance on Sunday in Cairns from Brisbane including the fact that despite having lost in Perth to the Wildcats by 32 points less than 48 hours earlier and bounced back so impressively.

It was the fact that it was a four-quarter performance with the Bullets on top virtually from start to finish that pleased Scott the most afterwards.

"We're really happy about the way we finished the game," Scott said.

"We had a little tendency to kind of take our foot off the gas a little bit, and let a lead go down. But we did a great job of just staying poised and staying solid, and trying to find a way just to put the game away."