Red hot Bullets ready to show title pedigree

The Brisbane Bullets suffered an 11-point defeat when they played the Sydney Kings in Round 3, but as the two sides prepare to clash once more this weekend, Josh Bannan and Justin Schueller believe their side is a different prospect for their opposition.

The Bullets will enter the game off the back of a four-game stretch where they won three games. Wins over the Wildcats, JackJumpers and Phoenix have cemented their spot in the top six, and they’re now just one game behind the second-placed Kings.

Bannan says the Round 3 defeat to Sydney has become a key point in the Bullets’ season.

“We feel like we’ve grown a lot as a team since then,” Bannan said. “That was a bit of a turning point for us, and we responded really well as a team after that.

“We’ve got some guys back and we’re excited to see where we’re at on Sunday.

“It was a good couple of weeks going 3-1 over a four-game stretch in nine days was pretty successful, it’s always a little bit hard when you lose the last one of the four and feel like you could have got that one.

“It kind of sours it a little bit, but we’re really excited to bounce back this week against Sydney.”

Bannan was absent last time Brisbane and Sydney locked horns, and has since established himself as one of the most immense local talents in the NBL this season.

Aron Baynes will also be in the side having returned from the five-game suspension that kept him sidelined in Round 3.

“Last time we played Sydney we didn’t have Bannan and we didn’t have Baynes, so we’ll have a different look about us in how we can go about it,” head coach Schueller said.

“I think it’s a great challenge to go into Sydney, it’s a tough place to get wins, but we’ve had that scenario a couple of times this year and we’ve come out the right way, so the group is really looking forward to this one.”

Following their ninth-placed finish last season, the Bullets have re-tooled both on and off the court, and Schueller is leading the charge from the front.

Brisbane has made the finals just once since its return to the NBL in 2016, but Bannan says the expectation is to ensure that changes in NBL24.

“We said in the pre-season and Justin made it very clear in the pre-season when he got the job that we’re a playoff team,” he said.

“That is expectation, that’s not a question, that’s not what we hope to be, that’s where the expectation is. I think we’re starting to show that to other people and we’re going to continue to work towards that.”

Brisbane take on the reigning champion Kings on Sunday at 4pm AEDT, live on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, 10 Peach and 10play.