And Illawarra's captain believes he has identified a key area to take down the Bullets.

"I think they're one of the best three-point shooting teams in the league. That's got to be something that we take away from them," Blanchfield said.

"They've obviously got a couple of key guys there that they look to for points and to make something happen. [Nathan] Sobey, [Lamar] Patterson, and [Jason] Cadee's obviously shooting the ball really well at the moment. Cam [Gliddon] probably hasn't had the best season so far but he's a Boomer, he went to the World Cup. He can turn it around at any time. I know how he can shoot the ball and what a threat he can be. We don't want to be the reason Cam Gliddon turns around his season and gets 25 [points].

"We talk about all games being a must win game, but this could even be a season-defining game for us. A long week of preparation helps, but we've got to put our best foot forward."

With their season record standing at 3-9, the Hawks are also keen to atone for a poor performance against the New Zealand Breakers.

Illawarra had built some momentum with two wins over Cairns and a gutsy loss to Sydney. A LaMelo Ball triple-double kept the Hawks in contention in Auckland but they fell 91-79.

"We were looking for a little bit of redemption after we lost pretty badly against them last time [103-72 loss on October 24]. We wanted to leave with a good taste in our mouths," Blanchfield said.

"But I think it was a pretty bad start again, they jumped us early. The past three weeks had felt totally different. to the way we came out in New Zealand. But credit to our coaching staff and the guys, we fought and got back. We were right there, it was anyone's game.

"But there were a few breakdowns down the stretch and breakdowns offensively. These things were addressed [at training] this morning. That's on us, we've got to improve from it. We're 12 games in now, we've got to make that change so it doesn't happen anymore. It would be nice to say that four or five games in, rather than 12, but we've got to keep turning up and stay positive."

See more: LaMelo Ball hype grows, predicted to be No1. NBA pick in ESPN's mock draft

The Bullets head into the game on the back of a disappointing 110-95 loss to newcomers South East Melbourne Phoenix. Brisbane had led by as much as 16 points in the third quarter before the visitors surged to victory in the fourth.

When asked if it was a bad time to play the Bullets following their disappointing loss, Blanchfield said "they could look at us for that as well I suppose".

"We had a disappointing loss and we've had a long week of training," the forward said.

"I think Brisbane obviously had a disappointing loss. You've got to, no matter what night of the week it is, turn up and play. This league's too good now. You've got nine teams where anyone can beat anyone on a given night."

"I think we've shown that we can compete with the best teams in the league... but the New Zealand trip was disappointing. We've got to back up again. A long week of preparation is good, but it's also bad. After performances like that, sometimes you just want to play again the next day and redeem yourself. But we'll be ready this weekend."

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