"We're not here to compete": Bullets' high bar

The Brisbane Bullets aren’t here to take part, they’re here to take over – and assistant coach Darryl McDonald wants to put a full stop on the narrative that being competitive is enough for his side.

McDonald won three NBL titles as a player across three separate Victorian teams, and finished his storied playing career as the all-time steals leader in NBL history. He is behind only Andrew Gaze in the all-time assists tally.

McDonald has also added a further title to his resume as an assistant coach at Melbourne United in 2021.

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The Bullets opened the season with two straight victories under rookie head coach Justin Schueller, but have since slipped to lose their last three games – including a pair of fixtures against Sydney and Melbourne in Round 3.

“We’re going into every game trying to win, we’re not going into a game to compete – we want to get that narrative out of there. We’re trying to win,” McDonald told SEN.

“People say ‘you guys competed really well’. No, that’s our job. Our job is to compete, we’re going into games trying to win, we’re not trying to compete.

“When we play those teams there’s a lot of little things that happen in a game that can cause you to lose, and when you play those tough teams like that you can’t have those mistakes. You’ve got to be on the ball and spot on with everything you’re doing.

“It’s the fact we know we can play with them when we’re doing what we’re supposed to do. A lot of the game is based on scout, a lot of the game is based on individual scout, and when we stick to those things we know we give ourselves a chance.”

McDonald has been part of a wholesale change at the Bullets over the course of this off-season. He and Schueller both joined the club from Melbourne United to coach alongside existing assistant coach Greg Vanderjagt, while only a handful of last season’s playing roster remains.

Brisbane’s ninth-place finish saw them regarded as one of the NBL’s ‘easy beats’ last season, but McDonald says there’s been a shift in mentality of the organisation since his arrival.

“That’s the one thing we’re going to create here, you’re not coming in here and beating us, we’re not going to let teams come in here and think they’re going to beat us like they have over the years,” he said.

“You’re not going to walk into a stadium anymore and know you’re going to win.

“The league is a lot closer than what people think, there’s no easy beats.”

Brisbane’s NBL24 campaign continues on Saturday against the South East Melbourne Phoenix, live on ESPN via Kayo from 5:30pm AEDT.