Can Brisbane become Bullet-proof?

After nine rounds of the season, the Brisbane Bullets sit one spot outside Play-In Tournament with four wins from 10 games.

They no doubt had lofty expectations after an impressive performance at the Blitz, but after a somewhat shaky start, Derek Rucker needs to see much more from the Bullets. 

“This is going to be somewhat cruel, but I don’t think they’ve beaten a good team yet,” Rucker said on NBL Now.

Brisbane beat the Wildcats on Sunday, on the back of a record-setting night from James Batemon, who scored 51-points.

But Rucker said that win wasn't as impressive as it perhaps looks on paper.

“Perth are going on reputation right now, they haven’t been playing well on the road ... they (the Bullets) beat South East Melbourne when they were woeful and they beat New Zealand off the back of the USA Trip,” he said.

“I think that’s the biggest challenge; can they knock off Sydney? Can they knock off Melbourne? Can you beat even an Adelaide team, who again are another poor defensive team?"

Brisbane has lost each of its games this season against Sydney, Illawarra and Melbourne, while also losing to Tasmania twice.

“If they start knocking off some of those teams, then we’ll start considering them a post-season contender,” Rucker said.

The positive for Brisbane is that it has seemingly found an answer on the offensive end, having put up over 90 points in each of its last four games, including scoring over 100 twice.

“I think it’s a very entertaining way to play basketball at home,” Rucker said.

The Bullets are currently ranked eighth in defensive rating this season and points conceded, but are the fourth-best offensively rated team.

“It may be the case that they don’t have the defensive personnel,” Rucker continued.

“Maybe they just have to rack up points and try to outscore people, which wouldn’t be the most boring thing to see.

“If its got to be on the offensive end ... then they’ve just got to accept that and hope that eventually their defence comes to the party.”

Brisbane travels to Perth following the FIBA Break, aiming to make it back-to-back wins against the Wildcats.