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The Brisbane Bullets have added another win to their ledger on Saturday night, defeat Melbourne United at home by 10 points.
Final score
Brisbane Bullets 100
Melbourne United 90
In what shapes as an intriguing Round 11 NBL clash, the Brisbane Bullets will be looking to make a statement against the exciting and free-flowing Melbourne United at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday evening.
The Bullets, until a few weeks ago had been one of the better and more consistent teams for the season, however it’s all starting to come undone.
Most of their early wins were built on the Andrej Lemanis ideology of defence first and it was working for the club, despite the fact they were struggling to put up enough points at time.
A 15-point win at the Perth Arena seemed to quash that though as they ran up 90 on the back of some strong performances from key men Jermaine Beal and Torrey Craig.
Since then though it’s been all a bit of a nightmare for Brisbane who have lost three straight matches, going down to Cairns, New Zealand most disappointingly the Illawarra Hawks.
The worst thing about the Hawks game was that their defence was simply powerless to stop the Rotnei Clarke led offence, and that’s what Brisbane have prided themselves on all season.
Maybe even worse for the Bullets is that they have slid all the way down to sixth place on the table with a record of seven wins and eight losses – and if their defence couldn’t handle Clarke then trying to contain Casper Ware and Chris Goulding will be another level.
Melbourne themselves were sitting dead last on the ladder not so long ago, but in A masterstroke, the club cut the underperforming import Cedric Jackson in favour of Capser Ware, and in return he has turned the club around.
While there are rightfully still questions over their offence and whether it’s too one-dimensional, United have been putting up big numbers with Chris Goulding back on the court after an injury lay-off.
In a league where momentum means plenty, Melbourne’s turning point was a Capser Ware buzzer-beating three against the Sydney Kings to win their second in a row.
From there they haven’t looked back, winning four of their last five including a 24-point drubbing of the New Zealand Breakers and beating the Sydney Kings for a second time.
In the season series between the sides, it’s United who hold the 1-0 lead after taking the first game by eight points way back in Round 3.
While the two sides are playing completely differently now to how they did then, United will take some comfort out of that game knowing they can beat Brisbane even in a low scoring game, which would tend to suit the Bullets more.
Still, it makes this an incredibly important game for the Bullets to not only defend home court, but run up a score and take the lead in what could prove to be a pivotal series for ladder positions come finals time.
Prediction
This should be an intriguing contest, but even on the road it just looks like United should have too much attacking might and too many options with Ware and Goulding leading the way. for the Bullets defence on the perimeter to handle.
Unless Jermaine Beal goes crazy and Cameron Bairstow plays his best game so far this season, it will be United to pick up a narrow win.
United by 5.
Key game information
Tip-off: 7:30pm (AEDT) – 6:30pm (AEST)
Venue: Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
TV: Live, Fox Sports 503
Online: NBL.TV
Betting: United $1.78, Bullets $2.05
Last meeting: Round 3, United 78 defeat Bullets 70 at Hisense ArenaBrisbane Bullets (expected)
Point guard: Jermaine Beal
Shooting guard: Adam Gobson
Small forward: Torrey Craig
Power forward: Cameron Bairstow
Centre: Daniel Kickert
Bench: Mitchell Young, Shaun Bruce, Tom Jervis, Anthony Petrie, Jarryd Bairstow, Reuben Te RangiMelbourne United (expected)
Point guard: Casper Ware
Shooting guard: Chris Goulding
Small forward: Owen Odigie
Power forward: David Andersen
Centre: Majok Majok
Bench: Nate Tomlinson, David Barlow, Kyle Adnam, Devin Williams, Ramone Moore, Todd BlanchfieldFollow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde