RD5 GAME PREVIEW V BRISBANE BULLETS

GAME PREVIEW –

Round 5 –  Brisbane Bullets v Tasmania JackJumpers  

Sunday 29 October, 4.00pm tip-off

Nissan Arena

Watch LIVE on 10Peach, 10Play and SPN via Kayo and Foxtel

State of Play

Tasmania was brought back down to earth on Friday with an 8 point loss to Melbourne United on their home floor and they will head to Brisbane looking to regain their recent form that saw them knock over the Kings.

The JackJumpers will be reacquainted with some familiar faces with former fan favourites Sam McDaniel and Isaac White suiting up in new colours for the Bullets.

Both teams are coming off short breaks, the home side with the toughest of turnarounds in Perth on Friday night, but they'll be riding high after cliniching an away win over the Wildcats..

It’s been quite a while since the two sides met, the last being almost 11 months ago in Brisbane. Fixturing in the back half of last season meant the JackJumpers and Bullets haven’t crossed paths since December 2022, in a season to forget for the Bullets. But it’s a new look team and a new season so anything could happen on Brisbane’s home floor.

Fun facts

Jordon Crawford is the only Tasmania player to score 30+ points in a game this season.

Last time they met  

NBL23 Round 9, December 4 2022 – Nissan Arena

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 99 (Doyle 33, McVeigh 16, Magette 13)

BRISBANE BULLETS 84 (Sobey 20, Mitchell 16, Gak 14) 

Milton Doyle continued to put himself in the discussion as the best clutch performer in NBL23 as he put up 33 points to lift the Tasmania JackJumpers to a gritty 99-84 road win on against an energetic Brisbane Bullets back in December 2022.

It was a tight battle most of the way too with Brisbane looking to make it consecutive wins under caretaker coach Sam Mackinnon, as the sides had things locked up at half time with a high scoring 54 points apiece.

From the third term, Doyle broke through the 30-point barrier with a massive three to put the JackJumpers up seven. They weren’t done yet with another drive and finish to McVeigh followed by another alley-oop from Doyle to Magnay.

That completed a 14-0 run and that saw the JackJumpers end up winning by 15 to improve to 7-6 for the season while the Bullets were 4-8. 

SRT Logistics Coaches’ take

Mark Radford said “another short turnaround for us, which can be a blessing and a curse. Forces you to put one game to bed pretty quickly and move on. But you also don’t have time to overthink the upcoming game and that can be beneficial sometimes. Assistant Coaches are always working on the scout in the background so we’ll look at that Saturday and execute as best we can”.

Ins & outs 

Tasmania JackJumpers: Will Magnay won’t suit up for the JackJumpers as he continues to recover from a foot injury sustained in the off season.

Brisbane Bullets: Aron Baynes will miss his fifth game straight through suspension.

Opponents on the Radar 

Brisbane’s only remaining fit import Chris Smith is one to watch. He’s already shown his ability with a pair of 15 points games and a 21-point masterclass this season, but he’s also had two games where he’s only scored in single figures.