R11 Preview: Brisbane Bullets vs Adelaide 36ers

When: 7.30pm (AEDT), Friday 11 February, 2022

Where: Nissan Arena, Brisbane

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sports NZ


Who won last time?
Adelaide 101 (Johnson 26, Pinder 19, Giddey 15) d Brisbane 79 (Sobey 20, Hodgson 19) - Round 16 2021, Adelaide Entertainment Centre

Josh Giddey and Daniel Johnson put on a show as Adelaide destroyed the Bullets 79-56 after quarter-time. The now NBA rookie sensation posted a 15-point, 13-assist, 11-rebound triple-double to help his draft stock soar, while DJ dropped 26 points at 68 per cent. Off the bench Keanu Pinder added 19 points, seven boards and three swats as the 36ers cruised to an easy win.


What happened last start?

While that game was entertaining, it had nothing on Adelaide’s incredible overtime victory against the reigning champs in Round 9. The Sixers had to weather a late Melbourne storm and ride a brilliant Dusty Hannahs game-tying three to eventually prevail. That was Adelaide’s best defensive performance of the season, but their three-point yips continued.

Brisbane are 2-5 since their lengthy lay-off and have dropped four straight to slump to ninth place on the Hungry Jack’s NBL ladder. Given Friday night will be their eighth home date from 12 games, this is a must-win ahead of a difficult run home. To overcome Adelaide, they’ll need to temper an aggressive defence that allowed the Taipans too many open looks.

Who’s in form?

Not Brisbane – The reality is the Bullets have lost four on the trot by a total of 49 points, and only one of those opponents has been in the top four. They lost to a Sydney team that was down three players, the Phoenix without Zhou Qi and Izayah Le’afa, and Cairns without Scott Machado, Mirko Djeric, Nate Jawai, Jarrod Kenny and Kouat Noi. This team is on struggle street and needs to lift, and they’ll need to do that as a unit with superstar Nathan Sobey ruled out.

Cam Bairstow – While Brisbane may be performing below expectations, Bairstow certainly is not, producing 14.4 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.2 o-boards and 2 assists across the past five games, his toughness on the glass keeping the 36ers in ball games, with his 60 per cent two-point shooting crucial in converting second chance points. He’ll battle the bigger Tyrell Harrison on Friday, and will hope to end his streak of nine-straight misses from outside.

Who needs to be?

Dusty Hannahs – When Hannahs checked in with 30 seconds remaining in regulation against Melbourne, he had eight points on 2/7 shooting next to his name and Adelaide trailed by four. Over the next 5:30 he dropped 11 points on 5/5, including three tough driving baskets in the final 130 seconds of OT to seal the deal. Adelaide need the assertive Dusty from early on.

Isaiah Moss – The new Bullets import has his first serious NBL go-around last Saturday and the signs were promising with 11 points on 50 per cent inside and outside, two steals and two blocks. His movement off the ball, good-looking stroke and tough attack on the hoop suggest he can make an impact, and he’ll need to do that and more with Sobey sidelined.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Isaiah Moss finding his feet for the <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BrisbaneBullets</a> <br><br>He&#39;s up to 11 points in this one ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/cKK8w2eeCS">pic.twitter.com/cKK8w2eeCS</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1489868259461513221?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Who’s statting up?

 - Hannahs scores at 1.38 points per possession in isolation plays, equal first in the NBL with Kyle Adnam amongst those with 10 or more plays across the season

  - Adelaide defeated Melbourne despite shooting 6/23 from the arc. Prior to that they’d averaged 10.7 triples at 41 per cent in wins, compared to 5.7 at 28 per cent in losses

 - In seven losses the Bullets are -51 on points from turnovers, with last week against Cairns the first time they’ve won that stat in defeat. In victories they are +1 on PFTs

 - Brisbane forced the Taipans into 17 turnovers, but gave up 102 points at 50 per cent, 20 free-throw attempts and 19 o-boards at a whopping 46 per cent. Previously, the Bullets had only allowed teams to grab 28 per cent of available offensive rebounds

Who’s matching up?

Robert Franks v Daniel Johnson – One shining positive from the loss to Cairns was Franks’ return to his early-season All-NBL form, draining 22 points at 57 per cent. Teams had made the versatile import a focus of their scout, jamming his pick-and-pop looks by switching, and coach James Duncan needs to ensure Franks receives more opportunities with ball in hand.

Against Cairns he looked good down low, while against DJ that could mean more perimeter opportunities to test DJ’s ability to contain the ball or create mismatches he can shoot over. At the other end, Johnson has averaged 10ppg at 45 per cent the past four games, but given Franks has picked up 8 fouls in his past 60 minutes, expect DJ to be an early focus.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Robert Franks is BALLIN&#39; in The Jungle ?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> live on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/l865lByEgD">pic.twitter.com/l865lByEgD</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1471804318730752003?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Who’s talking the talk?

As the Adelaide 36ers matched Melbourne United step-for-step in their Round 9 classic at the AEC, the Sixers bench was like a revolving door.

“We’re asking them to play elite basketball,” coach CJ Bruton explained post-game.

“We’re not playing NBL1, we’re in the NBL and I'm asking them to give me what they’ve got, and when they put their hand up and ask for subs that’s a winning sign.

“When I tell them they're going back in three minutes, that builds confidence.”

No one was spinning faster than star big man Cam Bairstow, who played 24 minutes but never spent more than four-straight minutes on the court.

The result was a 16-point, 13-rebound, five-assist masterpiece where the insatiable big man simply outworked his United opponents.

“He’s a worker,” Bruton said.

“He’s a guy that works very hard at his craft and we try to put him in spots where he can be successful and against match-ups we know that he has an advantage.

“He’s a smart player, he’s always looking after his body … it’s not so much us managing him, because he has his own routine that he likes to do, we work together to make sure we get the best out of Bear, and Bear’s able to perform at a high level.”

Another man who’s minutes were manipulated to great effect was Dusty Hannahs, who has embraced his bench role, exemplifying the old adage that it’s not who starts that counts, but who finishes.

“When I called his number in the last timeout he was good to go, put the ball in his hands and you all got to see what he’s capable of – 19 points in 19 minutes,” Bruton said.

“When we went back to Dusty was when the bodies and everyone around was feeling fatigue … where Dusty was fresh and he was able to capitalise on how they were playing and took full advantage of it.”



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="es" dir="ltr">DUST IN THE W?I?N?D? WIN. <a href="https://t.co/r0JrJEjCna">pic.twitter.com/r0JrJEjCna</a></p>&mdash; Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1487660255480004608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Adelaide’s other under-pressure import, Todd Withers, was also a rejuvenated presence, shooting with confidence to rack up 17 points and five boards in just 23 minutes.

“Todd was great, he was aggressive, he took his shots when they were there, he played smart, and defensively I know what I'm getting every time he steps on the floor,” Bruton said.

“He's a great teammate and his effort on both ends, he gave it all until the juice ran out of the rag.”

On Friday night, Withers will have the unenviable task of defending Lamar Patterson.

While the Bullets have been a picture of inconsistency, Lamarvellous has not failed to reach double figures this season, hasn’t shot below 40 per cent since opening night, and has averaged 19ppg at 46 per cent across the past five games.

Having averaged just 76ppg in the opening three games of their losing skid, Brisbane fixed that by running up 94 at 50 per cent, but much to coach James Duncan’s disgust they opened the floodgates in the other direction.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/JwhEPOvLT7">pic.twitter.com/JwhEPOvLT7</a></p>&mdash; Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1490591458016968704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


“Four losses in a row. The biggest thing for me that I'm probably most disappointed about is teams that play defence make playoffs and win consistently. If you give up 102 points that’s not getting it done,” he said.

“For me it’s like back to the drawing board in having an understanding from the guys regardless of whatever we’re doing offensively – we’ll find our offence – we need to defend at a high level and everybody from the starters to the bench have to be willing to dig deep and do that.”

The Bullets actually rank fourth in defensive points per possession in the half-court, but it’s sloppiness in transition or lapses in the possession game that cost them leaked points.

Against the Phoenix it was turnovers.

“It’s like putting your hand on the stove a number of times and getting burnt on it and getting burnt on it, hopefully sooner or later you're going to learn from that,” Duncan said.

“When we take care of the ball we put ourselves in a position to win games, we get more shots at the rim, but there’s just times when our focus drops and we get loose with it.”

Against Cairns it was offensive boards.

“We’ve been rebounding at a really high level during the course of the season, this is the first time, I can’t remember the last time we got outrebounded,” Duncan said.

“We need to get back to that, that’s part of what our identity is, we rebound the ball and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight.”

Friday’s home game leaves little room for error, with a loss leaving the 4-7 Bullets a big mountain to climb to make the post-season and a lot of away games to do the climbing.

“One hundred per cent we didn’t capitalise on our home games, that’s clear, but we can’t take that back,” Duncan said.

“It’s hard to win road games, it’s hard to win any games in this league.”