Bullets building winning habits

The Brisbane Bullets have elevated themselves back into finals calculations after a third straight win, and a game-winning bucket from Chris Smith in Thursday's victory over Tasmania has seen the team lock in on their winning habits.

Smith hit a triple with just three seconds remaining on the clock to pull the Bullets to victory after the side locked the JackJumpers down in the final seconds following a timeout.

Brisbane has also defeated Sydney and South East Melbourne on its current run, and has now moved to 10 wins for the season.

Head coach Justin Schueller says the key to victory is “staying in the moment” and building “habits”.

“We use habits as our checkpoint daily, we really believe in when we’re accountable to those things, that things will continue to go our way,” Schueller following the win.

“We’ve had a couple losing streaks this year and we’ve come out the other way, so right now we’re getting some fruits and awards for it. But we’re also really big on staying in the moment, and that’s the key for us right now.”

The win over Tasmania at home has excited the club to continue their form of stringing wins together.

The home victory was made even more positive by the fact it came in the absence of star guard Nathan Sobey, who was a late omission from the side due to a foot injury.

Smith stepped up alongside the likes of Tyrell Harrison and Sam McDaniel to lead the side, and the undermanned victory has given Schueller some peace of mind that preparation is being rewarded.

Of the side's 11 losses this season, nine have come in single figures.

The Bullets have fought hard in every game this season, with their nine games having been only single digit losses.

“We’ve always felt that we were right there. What I feel in these last three [or] four games is a genuine understanding of what it needs to look like possession by possession,” Schueller said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">THE SHOT TO WIN IT ?<br><br>CHRIS SMITH IS HIM ?<br><br>Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL24?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL24</a> live on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/ifAornwf1V">pic.twitter.com/ifAornwf1V</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1745039376013504531?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

2018 NBL champion Peter Hooley not only praised the players for buying in and not giving up, but coach Schueller for transforming Brisbane’s culture for the better.

“Once again the Bullets have shown they’re actually the third best defensively rated team across the league and that’s a big shoutout to Justin Schueller,” Hooley said on the latest episode of NBL Now.

“He came in, changed the culture around and said, ‘we’ve got to focus on that end,’ and you look back across the season they’ve been really solid defensively.”

Hooley applauded the way the Bullets have turned out this season, and what no better time than with six rounds to go and a fifth-on-the-ladder position – he said, “they’re just marching towards the finals.”

The Bullets will face the Illawarra Hawks on Sunday at 2:00pm AEDT. The game will be broadcast live and free on ESPN via Kayo Freebies, 10 Peach and 10 Play.