Bullets sharpshooter backs himself every time

Shooters are meant to have short memories. Max Mackinnon's is shaping as one of the shortest in the League.

Eight days ago in Cairns, almost nothing went down. He finished 3-of-16 from the field, the kind of night that leaves young players second-guessing their next look.

Mackinnon didn't blink. Back at Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Thursday night, he kept letting it fly: 9-of-18 from the field, 4-of-8 from three and a 24-point, 8-rebound, 8-assist line as the Bullets saw off South East Melbourne Phoenix 115-105.

It's not the first time he has answered a cold night. A 3-of-11 outing in Sydney just over a fortnight ago was followed three days later by 21 points on 50 per cent shooting against Tasmania.

At 23, Mackinnon carries himself like someone who has been around far longer. He's a shooter, and he isn't going to die wondering.

That's exactly how Will Weaver wants it.

"Max is a really good player and a really good shooter, and sometimes he's going to make his threes, sometimes going to miss his threes," the Bullets coach said.

"Part of being a great shooter is not being concerned about the outcome and being concerned about the details that put you in a position to be able to get those threes.

"So I think everyone's going to overindex on whether they happen to go in or not, except for Max and Norto [Mitch Norton] and me and everybody else in that locker room."

400-gamer Norton was quick to back up his coach's sentiments.

"I think if you asked him [Mackinnon] he would completely forgot that he shot three of 16 or whatever it was a week ago," Norton said.

"But I love how open he is to feedback. He wants to learn. You know, I'm in his ear about, you know, defensively how he can impact the game.

"He's not one of those kids that wants to turn you away. He wants to get better, and that's only going to see him go on to bigger and better things."

The win snapped a three-game losing streak and lifted the Bullets to 3-3, despite playing without Arnas Velička and losing Tyrell Harrison and Jacob Holt to ankle injuries early in the fourth quarter.

"There's not one person that's going to step up and fill his shoes. It needs to be a group job," Norton said.

The Bullets now hit the road to face Tasmania on Wednesday and Illawarra on Saturday.