BRISBANE coach Andrej Lemanis has thrown out recent Hawks scouting reports ahead of their clash in Wollongong on Saturday as the Bullets look to buck a 1-7 Illawarra hoodoo.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Bullets are 1-7 against the Hawks since re-entering the NBL three seasons ago, with Rob Beveridge’s men notching three of their four biggest scores against Brisbane last season.
They felt the brunt of the Hawks formidable three-point shooting arsenal in those results, but Lemanis expects to the current line-up to pose a different challenge.
“They’re a team that has traditionally hurt us from the three-point line,” Lemanis said following his side’s 102-96 win over a previously unbeaten Perth on Thursday night.
“Obviously Blanch [Todd Blanchfield] is shooting the ball really well at the moment but this year they’re a little different in terms of Jordair Jett and Cedric Jackson putting the heat on the rim.
“We’ve got to be intelligent with how we defend them, we need to get on the front foot and be disruptive with our defence.
“We can’t let them come down and get comfortable with what they want to run.”
The Bullets will be high on confidence having handed the Wildcats their first loss of the season and Lemanis said they'll lean heavily on the same blueprint.
“If we take anything away from [Thursday] night it’s, offensively being on the front foot. [Illawarra] tend to junk up their defences and try to slow you down as Perth did at various times.
“I thought we got disrupted a little bit early and then we went at it and it generated a lot of easy looks for us. I think we can do the same against Illawarra if we take that same mindset to it.”
Hawks coach Rob Beveridge also isn't reading anything into his side's run against the Bullets, pointing to the roster overhaul both clubs have undergone heading into the new season.
“People do talk about that [record] but Brisbane are a new team as well,” Beveridge said.
“They're a new team, and when you've got new players in your team it takes a little bit of time to gel.
“You need to work out what your identity is, who's your alpha dog and all those types of things. We're a new team and we're still going through all that stuff as well.
“People were telling us last week that we hadn't won in Cairns in eight games or whatever it was but our team that played last week had never lost in Cairns before. I look at it that way.
“Brisbane aren't going to come in worrying about that record or anything like that. We just need to go in with the expectation that we need to protect the home court.”