RD6 GAME PREVIEW V BRISBANE BULLETS

GAME PREVIEW –

Round 6 – Tasmania JackJumpers v Brisbane Bullets

Saturday 4 November, 5.30pm tip-off

Silverdome Launceston 

Watch LIVE on ESPN via Kayo and Foxtel

State of Play

The tables dramatically turned for both Brisbane and Tasmania in Round 5. Fortune favouring the Bullets with two wins over Perth and then the JackJumpers at home, on the other side of the coin Tasmania went down to Melbourne United and then the Bullets, bringing a halt to what was blistering form until that point.

Both teams are now 4-4 to start their seasons with Brisbane having all the momentum heading into their second match up in 6 days.

Brisbane will be further bolstered by the inclusion of Aron Baynes who is returning from suspension after an altercation with Cairns Coach Adam Forde back ibn Round 3.

Last time they met  

NBL24 Round 5, Sunday 29 October 2023 – Nissan Arena

BRISBANE BULLETS 90 (Sobey 28, Smith 11, Bannan 10, Harrison 10, White 10)

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 87 (McVeigh 18, Deng 17, Crawford 16)

Jordon Crawford's long-range attempt to send the game to overtime rimmed out as Brisbane hung on for a 90-87 win.

Nathan Sobey peeled off a game-high 28 points as the Brisbane Bullets survived a late Tasmania JackJumpers fightback to continue their resurgence with a tense 3-point win.

Despite being without star centre Aron Baynes (suspended) and point guard Shannon Scott (hamstring), the Bullets soared to a second straight victory at Nissan Arena.

It gives Brisbane two wins in the round after a stirring win in Perth against the struggling Wildcats to snap a four-game losing streak.

Tyrrell Harrison and Josh Bannan (10 points each) were important for the Bullets, while Chris Smith (11) and Isaac White (10) gave solid contributions off the bench.

It was Sam McDaniel who had as significant an impact as anybody though. After locking down Bryce Cotton on Friday, he took on former JackJumpers teammate Milton Doyle and limited him to seven points on 3-of-10 shooting.

McVeigh (18 points) and Deng (17) gave strong offensive contributions for Tasmania, who lost Marcus Lee for the final few minutes after the starting centre fouled out.

SRT Logistics Coaches’ take

Assistant Coach Jack Fleming said “You know we've got a new group and we're trying to build that consistency and how we play and the result will be whatever it is. But we want to play the game on our terms, so that's what we're looking to do. It’s a play-offs like turn around backing up against the same team after a short turn around and they beat you and then they've got Baines coming back in”. 

“I think from a team perspective we've got to make sure that we move the ball, whether they play man or zone, we've got to keep the ball popping and we've got new guys in who can score the ball just as well as Milt, so it's going to be a collective effort to do so”.

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 return from a five-game suspension. 

Opponents on the Radar 

Tyrell Harrison has recorded 2+ blocks in four consecutive appearances - longest active streak of any player in the league.