Bullets: “We Lost Control”

The first half of the season has been nothing short of a disaster for the Brisbane Bullets and the club has now admitted things “could have been handled better”.

In a candid media conference on Friday, CEO, Peter McLennan, was on the front foot to answer questions about the club’s plight and reports a new coach was on the way.

“We had no contract in front of anybody. Be clear on that,” he declared.

“I can’t say it any other way. We were going through the process, which happens when you have a change of coach.

“Because of this noise, we lost control, and it could have been handled better.”

James Duncan was let go in November, replaced by Sam Mackinnon as interim coach. Mackinnon’s stint lasted just four games before Greg Vanderjagt took over.

Brisbane announced today Vanderjagt will remain coach for the rest of the season.

“The process hasn’t changed. We have been working through with the ownership group, working through with their networks and contacts, which have been local and global,” McLennan said about the search for a new coach.

“The process was always through the process. Sam Mackinnon was a part of that process. That process played out, we didn’t agree to terms with Sam but Sam is still our GM of Basketball.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Greg Vanderjagt to continue as Hostplus Head Coach for NBL23.<br><br>“I’m excited about the opportunity and for the challenges ahead,” Vanderjagt said.<br><br>More here: <a href="https://t.co/SdNxn1I0GT">https://t.co/SdNxn1I0GT</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RIVERCITYSTRONG?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RIVERCITYSTRONG</a> <a href="https://t.co/fr12cDaJvw">pic.twitter.com/fr12cDaJvw</a></p>&mdash; Brisbane Bullets (@BrisbaneBullets) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets/status/1606085938798551041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

McLennan also rubbished claims of a now “untenable” relationship with Mackinnon.

“Sam and I have a healthy relationship because we debate things,” McLennan said.

“Is that a rift or things that I’m reading about? If us having really robust, solid conversations to be better, bring it on every day of the week, because that’s a healthy environment.

“Sammy (Mackinnon) and I have a huge responsibility to lead this club, both from him overseeing the basketball department, myself to improve the stability of the club for the long term and the short term.

“I don’t want just yes people here. I want people to debate things, to challenge things because that is going to make us better.”

Earlier this week Bullets owner, Jason Levien, revealed he will take more control of the struggling club.

“There are clear lines of communication between myself and two majority owners,” McLennan said.

“They’re the two I deal with and then they take it to where they need to take it internally. The communication flow between us in these four walls is pretty solid. They are in this thing for the long term. They’re coming out in January. They’re fully committed to this club.”

McLennan added star centre Aron Baynes will be back next season as he is under contract, while both McLennan and Vanderjagt denied claims the players spoke about boycotting last week’s game against the Cairns Taipans.