Mitch Young’s form has been one of few positives from a season that will see the Brisbane Bullets collect the NBL wooden spoon.
BULLETS coach Andrej Lemanis wants his team to be angry when they watch the NBL play-offs.
Brisbane (10-17) will collect the wooden spoon when their season comes to an end after Saturday night’s clash with Illawarra in Wollongong.
The Bullets were sitting pretty on top of the heavily-congested ladder midway through their comeback season but injuries to key players and a series of close losses destroyed their campaign.
Brisbane were able to knock off any team in the competition at their best but were often guilty of quarter-long lapses that cost them winnable games.
Brisbane’s roster and coaching staff is full of championship winners and perennial finalists so watching the top four do battle will be painful.
“When you are not in the playoffs, it hurts, absolutely it does,’’ said Lemanis, a three-time championship-winning coach with the New Zealand Breakers.
Brisbane Bullets coach Andrej Lemanis has challenged his players to get angry.Source:Getty Images
“That will be something that is reflected throughout the group. We should all be disappointed that we are not there. I don’t care who wins. If we are not in it, I don’t care.
“There has to be a certain amount of anger in us when we are watching other teams compete for what we wanted to be competing for.’’
He said the Bullets would not be waving any white flags when they take on the second-placed Hawks (14-13) who need to win to secure their playoff berth.
Six teams are trying to squeeze into three available finals spots, with minor premiers Adelaide already assured of making the playoffs.
“We don’t know any other way. We’ll compete hard and try to get better, especially defensively,’’ Lemanis said.
“We’ve also been making strides and improving aspects of our offence so we want that to continue to improve.’’
The eye-catching form of forward Mitch Young and the extra minutes for teenage guard Matt Kenyon had been positives for Brisbane in the run home.
Originally published as Pain will be play-off gain for Bullets
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