Coach’s wise words after huge Bullets win

Brisbane head coach Andrej Lemanis says the Bullets have their NBL playoff destiny in their own hands and the 93-70 win over Sydney at Nissan Arena on Thursday night was the blueprint.

Brisbane moved to a 13-14 record after blowing the Kings off the court with a 32-10 second quarter and will take valuable confidence and momentum into Saturday’s clash with reigning champion Perth.

After playing nine road games since their last home outing on March 28, the Bullets have a five-game homestand that will dictate if they play finals and it could not have gotten off to a better start.

Sharpshooter Anthony Drmic hit seven three-pointers from just 10 attempts for a game-high 28 points to keep the Bullets firmly in the playoff picture and sink Sydney to their third-straight loss in Casper Ware’s 150th NBL appearance.

While the Drmic-inspired offence flowed when it mattered most for Brisbane, Lemanis said the defensive effort to keep the Kings to 70 points was the critical take-away that the Bullets can build on with the Wildcats (twice), Phoenix and Melbourne United heading to Brisbane in the next fortnight.

“I thought there were good signs in the Cairns game around our grunt at the defensive end … I thought that carried into tonight’s game. That second quarter we started to really get into it,’’ he said.

“It’s become an emphasis for us … we’ve been better in that space and then that leads to offence at the other end.

“Good signs but we are in a stretch here. We play on Saturday so we take the positives from this, learn from it and get onto Perth tomorrow and we need to come out and play and play well.

“The effort and energy, we can control that. That’s where we need to maintain our focus … coming out and playing the right way.’’

Drmic shot the Kings to pieces on Thursday night. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)Source:Getty Images

Lemanis said Drmic’s best basketball comes from effort plays in defence which “clears his mind” at the offensive end.

“I feel like the second half of the season I’ve put an emphasis on not worrying about the three and focusing on the little things and every time I do that, I feel like the offensive stuff comes with it,’’ Drmic said.

“This league is tough. We’ve got nine games and all of them are going to be tough … if we can continue to play good defence and rebound the basketball and push, we can challenge some of those tough teams.’’

Meanwhile, Kings coach Adam Forde was left to lament a woeful shooting effort from Sydney who hit 27 field goals from 87 attempts (31 per cent) and six three-pointers from 35 attempts (17.1 per cent).

“In that first quarter there were quite a few good looks that didn’t drop, and it was floodgates in the second quarter. We just couldn’t find our mojo,’’ Forde said.

“By the end of it, Brisbane were almost daring us to shoot. That’s basically it, right.

“Moving forward, looking at shooting percentages, there’s only so much you can do in a couple of days.’’

He said Sunday’s home game against Adelaide will be critical for the Kings, who hope to have guard Shaun Bruce available.

The Kings then head to New Zealand for two games before playing the Wildcats in Perth.

“Now the importance of getting Adelaide again we’re back to 500 and we are in touch. With the seven games remaining, the reality is we probably have to win five, at least four,’’ he said.

“This stretch is going to be it, right.’’

Forde said Xavier Cooks’ cameo off the bench in his comeback from injury was a positive.

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