Dynamic duo on point for Bullets

Having Mitch Norton alongside him continues to be bringing out the best in James Batemon at the Brisbane Bullets, with the pending inclusion of Emmett Naar to only help that further in NBL25.

The initial plan coming into the season for the Bullets was to have new import Batemon as the starting point guard with experienced captain Norton as his backup.

That was with the expectation of having Sam McDaniel and Casey Prather in the two and three spots with Keandre Cook the scoring punch off the bench, but those plans were thrown out the window with McDaniel's season-ending injury.

Now seven games into the season and there is enough evidence to suggest that the Bullets are better off with their captain as the starting point guard, with Batemon being that scoring punch off the bench. That was on show in Cairns on Saturday night.

In his 349th game in the NBL, Norton put in a power of work defensively, trying to make life as difficult as he could for Cairns superstar Rob Edwards, while then running the team and stepping up to make clutch shots.

Batemon then continued his stunning scoring form and made an immediate impact, with 11 quick points once he hit the floor in the first quarter.

He finished with 21 points with 3/5 three-point shooting and moving forward, it appears the best fit for the Bullets will be for Norton to continue to run the point with support from Naar.

Then, Batemon can focus on being that shooter and scorer at the offensive end.

"Right off the bat he (Batemon) had an edge about how he wanted to play at the offensive tonight, but it was at the defensive end for me late," Schueller said.

"He wanted to go onto Rob Edwards who had an outstanding night. He really came out aggressive and was able to give Norto some relief minutes there which is what we need.

"Norto plays 33 minutes and he's defending the best player most of the night there, so to have JB step up in that part really was what was impressive to me."

Norton is now preparing for his 350-game milestone on Thursday night, with the Bullets hosting Melbourne United at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

Schueller couldn’t be more thankful to have him not only on his team, but as his captain, given the work he puts in defensively, running the team and then also still hitting huge shots.

"We're very lucky to have him and there's not a person in our organisation that doesn't feel that way," Schueller said.

"We're going to make sure we celebrate that the right way, it's a massive milestone for him. The way we played tonight is exactly what we expect every week and he hits that three in the corner, and that's when you saw the belief in the group just go up a whole other level.

"He plays with his heart on his sleeve, he never takes a shortcut and he's super dependable for us."